sources tell fox news the announcement will include an invitation from kim jong-un to meet president ump. and a commitment by kim jong-un to stop nuclear and missile testing. we'll bring that to you just as soon as it begins. we are waiting on this. it will be happening momentarily. very big news out of the white house tonight. also this thing. president trump keeping yet another campaign promise imposing tariffs on steel and aluminum imports. the signing ceremony said it all. the president was surround by steel and aluminum members. not members of his own party who bucked the president. attorney general jeff sessions said he's seriously considering apoints a second special counsel to investigate fbi corruption and government surveillance abuse. but will sessions follow through? we take that up tonight. our guests this evening. two of the best political analysts in the business. ed rollins and charlie hurt. and congressman sean duffy is joining me to discuss the gop's opposition to tariffs. and general jack keane on south korea's announcement expected any moment now. more on our break

give a letter, go to washington, hand delivered to donald trump from kim jong-un. why do you think this in this way? >> well, sources i've been speaking with very close to north korea say that kim jong-un has been studying intently president trump. and he's taking a page from the trump playbook. he looks at what is happening right now. the sanctions that have been largely by the trump administration are beginning to bite in north korea. trucks coming from china has almost none hand negative effect if the sanctions continue. also the messaging from president trump that he would be very willing to move to a military option, attack on north korea if diplomacy doesn't work. so kim jong-un, he wants to remain in power for decades to come. long after president trump leaves office. long after south korea moon leaves office. so his calculusty moment is diplomacy is best and only option to move forward. even when north korea talks about they have nuclear missiles pointed at the united states, they foe if there was a war to break out odds of north korea surviving as we know i

south korea is acting like a catalyst to get the president and kim jong-un together. ey said kim jong-un expressed eagerness at meeting president trump. is anything being lost on the south koreans that they should be aware of. ed: he's put a lot on the line here as well as we have. i think the critical thing is unlike most of traditional diplomatic efforts that come out of the state department. i would urge the expertise here is just as jack keane said, i think the defense department has to be very, very involved in this discussion, and certainly general mattis, the secretary of defense has to be involved in this. it isn't swapping rice bags. it's about weapons and people with great knowledge hewitt goes -- a with a great knowledge of how it goes. the team the president puts together has to be a team with a great understanding and capacity. if they tried to make this a jared effort it would be idiotic. trish: jared kushner won't lead this one. ed: i think we have to show the greatest strength and knowledge of anyone sitting down. trump is not traditional and the presid

indeed, the meeting with kim jong—un kim denuclearise. definitely now in uncharted territory? if you were to start to think what could be a part of this basis of building trust and working towards denuclearise, there was a process called nuclear disablement. if there is a designation of a facility and they dismantle that, that could be the visual image of the work and the long road there is but the beginning of the actual visible destruction for the agreement of denuclearisation. to the to keep talking about the night had slipped and south korea. to the to keep talking about the night had slipped a in south korea. to the to keep talking about the night had slipped a in this :h korea. with a do you think in this potential meeting on the commitment north korea to de— nuclearised? potential meeting on the commitment north korea to de- nuclearised? so the role of china was well—documented last year. north korea said it would commit to freezing its nuclear and missile testing, and in return, the united states and south korea would freeze their

not only is president trump accepted the invitation to meet kim jong—un kim jong—un trump accepted thekimjong—un kimjong—un but he will meet in high may. the rebels are obvious. it could well be that this is a genuine opportunity to speak to north korea, to try to get rid of nuclear weapons on this pinion trial. —— peninsular. the us president will meet the leader of north korea and it is a first. it is a huge pr. he will believe his maximum policy is working. the people in seoul, the ministers who have been deftly and dramatically negotiating these two sides to the table also. it could also be that kim jong—un sees it as a propaganda win. he is incredibly savvy. those army of beauties, sent to the winter olympics, managing to almost upstaged the sporting arena, when it comes to dealing with this kind of diplomatic opportunity, he has had yea rs of diplomatic opportunity, he has had years of practice watching his grandfather and his father who both to the table and then walked away and continued to build nuclear weapons. when it comes to the risks for president trump and president moon

bribe north korea with billions of dollars in energy subsidies in exchange for a promise that kim jong un'sr, kim jong il, would give up his nuclear program. clinton then went on national tv, patting himself on the back and saying "this is a good deal for the american people," and they ended up getting nukesl anyway. you may remember. >> this is a good deal for the united states. north korea willre freeze and dismantle its nuclear program. south korea and our other allies will be better protected. the entire world will be safer as we slow the spread of nuclear weapons. south korea with support from japan and other nations, will bear most of the cost of providing north korea with fuel to make up for the nuclear energy it is losing. and they will pay for an alternative power system for north korea that will allow them to produce electricity while making it much harder for them to produce nuclear weapons. the united states and international inspectors will carefully monitor north korea to make sure it keeps its. commitments. only as it does so will north korea fully join the community of natio

it seems like kim jong-un and president trump have been taking diplomacy pills. i think that's very good. the big risk here is kim jong-un has not delivered on anything. he's talking good, he's got from a bomb thrower to being a thinker. he's setting the agenda in the peninsula, but we should take advantage of this. i agree the president should accept the invitation, and he has. but he has to be prepared, a lot of ground work. i don't think the north koreans are going to denuclearization, but a deal that deals with nuclear activity, artillery, south korea deserves a lot of credit and they want some kind of lessening of tensions in south korea because there's 25 million people in south korea that are vulnerable. our troops in south korea and japan. so i tip my hat to both of them, although i'm worried we don't fall into a trap. >> the president just tweeted. kim jong-un talked about denuclearization with the south korean representatives, not just a freeze. also no missile testing by north korea during this period of time. great progress being made but sanctions rem

he won't let up on pressure on north korea because kim jong-un said he wants to talk. there was a very interesting warning from senator lindsey graham from south carolina last night toward kim jong-un who said in a statement "a word of warning to kim jong-un. worst possible thing you can do is meet with president trump in person and try to play him. if you do that, it will be the end of you and your regime." dana? >> dana: john, you mentioned -- i was looking at lindsey graham. he probably knows what he's talking about. you mentioned that there's another story. that could be delaying the briefing a couple minutes while sarah sanders just gets her ducks in a row. she's probably going to get questions about some new details regarding the litigation with stormy daniels. >> she will, yes. another twist in the stormy daniels story. this one that michael cohen, the president's personal attorney used a trump organization, not a trump campaign, a trump organization e-mail to negotiate the terms of a nondisclosure agreement with stormy daniels whose real name is stephanie cliffo

the south korean president will meet with kim jong un along the dmz next month. will be the first time kim jong un has ever met a world leaders since taking power in 2011. with the significance the north korean leader acknowledge the u.s. and south korea join -- slated to take place in the coming weeks after the paralympics finish will go ahead. in the past, she kim jong un had seen those exercises as a threa, and exercise to invade the north and over through his regime and has responded with aggressive ballistic missile tests. >> i told president trump that in our meeting, north korean leader kim jong un is committed to denuclearization. kim pledged that north korea will refrain from any further nuclear or missile tests. he understands that the routine joint exercises between the republic of korea and the united states must continue. >> shannon: from the pentagon's point of view, that was the most significant part of this announcement tonight. kim jong un's last icbm test was november 28th. his sixth nuclear test was in september. it's not clear whether this was

kim jong—un, bad cop but donald trump played stead fast. played stead fast. kim jong—un, he's 3a of age, he felt his elite talking about currency float. he wanted to pre—empt that. he wanted to unravel the sanctions and keep the weapons oi’ the sanctions and keep the weapons or whether he is willing to de— nuclear rise. it sounds like we be talking you again. our correspondent stephen mcdonnell has been covering the story from beijing for us. he says this is good news for china. china will welcome this development. beijing has been calling for washington and pyongyang to sit down and talk to one another. they have a different position from moon jae—in, urging both sides to begin discussions. we heard about the pressure being applied on a north korea i think beijing would say, shall pressure has been applied on them but no one has done this more than us. we voted for these at the united nations and we are by far and away the biggest trading partner with pyongyang so once chided decided to turn the screws, once textile, coal, seafood, is not c

kim jong-un, it says another thing. even though china joined with the united states and other countries in adopting u.n. security council resolutions that china is still kim jong-un's ally. and finally, both the meeting with president xi and forthcoming meeting with president trump does something for kim jong-un. it puts him on the same level of two of the world's great leaders of two great countries. so it serves a lot of purposes all around. >> would you agree, as i sort of intimated in the lead-in to you, that actually kim has been leading this diplomatic charge, kim jong-un? >> in some sense, i think that's right. when he met with the south koreans and south koreas came to say to president trump that he had an offer from kim jong-un to initiative.was a real and president trump flexibly and quick lly responded and said he was willing to meet. that has really transformed the landscape in terms of how -- what are the options for resolving this issue short of war. >> so it looks like these meetings, first with the south

will give us sort of a rundown what happened in the meetings that south korean officials had with kim jong un the leader of north korea earlier this week. then he will talk about an invitation that kim jong un is issuing to president trump to meet. now, if this were to happen, this would be an extraordinary break through because u.s. presidents have been talking with north korea, cutting deals with north korea for nearly 30 years and not once did the american president ever meet with the north korean leader. so, if there were to be an in person meeting between president trump and kim jong un, that would absolutely be precedent-setting. we don't know if we will learn tonight and we may, whether or not any preparations are being made for a meeting between the two presidents. certainly president trump has said he would be happy to meet with kim jong un if the conditions were right for that and the conditions would be that the substance of the conversation would be about the denuclearization of the korean peninsula, north korea giving up its nuclear program and not just freezing it. because the p

the south korean delegation, the leaders, they actually met with kim jong-un. what do you make of that? a message from kim jong-un to president trump. >> well, it's obviously been very interesting to watch kim jong-un begin to act like a diplomat and trying to establish these negotiations. i think the way he handled the issue with regards to the olympics, his willingness to participate in that, and now his willingness to engage in negotiations and include, as you've said, a letter to the president of the united states tells me that, you know, there is an opportunity here for the president, south korea, and north korea to be able to sit down and at least begin the process of negotiations. i hope the president takes advantage of that. i hope the president responds to kim jong-un in an effective way. so that, hopefully, the world can breathe a sigh of relief here, if these negotiations can bek begin in earnest. >> let's see what this south korean announcement is. let's turn, in the meantime, mr. secretary, to the president's announcement today on new tariffs. are y

will he invite kim jong un to the united states? or could kim jong un invite president trump to pyongyang? we have no idea where the meeting takes place. the key players don't have any idea yet either because this came together -- who would have thought six hoursing a this would be happening. now here we are. >> what is the significance of in request conveyed through the south korean national security adviser. outside on the lawn of the white house? what's the significance of that? >> well, the fact that you know, chung eui-yong. therm in seoul had a quick did he brief with president moon and flew to washington went straight to the white house, heaped praise on president trump for setting -- you know, the tone for creating the conditions to make this happen. you might have noticed in the remarks from the south korean security chief it was alall at first about praising president trump. music to his ears. in allows president trump to proclaim that he is the president who has made this happen, who made history. it's exactly what preside

jong-ilsidering, kim , it was gorbachev who of openingthe policy and reform. jong-un billkim -- kim jong-ilin was interested in reform. opening theds, leaders of a clash of the north korea systems. himself had asked putin, he was president of hesia then as well, he said didn't have a clear answer to opening. was 20 around with the around -- he was playing with the idea of a system of government. systemd's kingdom possibly. didn't want toil give up his power. he doesn't want to give up his style of life. but he can still maintain that under his new system, this kingdom. that was interesting. this was during his meeting. .oing to the topic of collapse every person who studied collapse agrees on one thing. time.a matter of we have an opportunity to listen to my couple of months ago. i must have read a dozen different scenarios for that to happen, -- a dozen different scenarios and that to happen, i don't -- evidence of this collapse is still happen. there are a lot of mechanisms that are automatically protect -- the north korean regime. given the structure of a , aboutph

it was around seven months ago when the president described kim jong un as little rocket man. and kim jong un returned the favor with insults lobbed at the president. and then it was over the summer, it was an extraordinary moment when the president warned the north korean dictator that he would meet fire and fury like he's never seen before. we had the scary moments over the summer where people in guam were concerned about their safety at one point. about what might happen there. and it's remarkable that things have developed to the point where these two leaders might actually get together and meet. it it just goes to show you that this president, and we were hearing about this before chung young came out and spoke to the microphones, we were hearing from senior administration officials that they were basical basically cautioning the president against this. that was not going to be their recommendation. but trump being trump, it is not unusual to defy his advisers and go with a bold move like this. of course, anderson, the potential ramifications of all this, we can't overstat

kim jong-un or donald trump? diplomatic drama overnight, confirmation that north korean leader kim jong-un did meet with chinese leading xi jinping. it's one major step in kim's choreographed march onto the world stage. president trump is saying there's a good chance he'll choose peace and denuclearization under maximum pressure from washington. the white house is celebrating what it considers its first trade deal, this one with south korea. cnn's abby phillip with the latest. first, on the north korea activity overnight. >> reporter: john, this is a president who seems pretty much happy with the way things are unfolding. that extraordinary meeting between kim jong-un and president xi in china led president trump to tweet this morning he's optimistic about the potential meeting with the north korean leader. he wrote for years, through many administrations everyone said peace and denuclearization on the korean peninsula was not even a small possibility. now there's a chance kim jong-un will do whalgs right for huma

and what kim jong-un is looking for.k. you cannot go into this meeting and wing it. and he nieds to stick to talking points, which we know he doesn't like to do. you can't ad-lib when you are negotiating nuclear issues. >> a lot of things need to be worked out, including location, location, location. >> absolutely. the most important thing is the president understands that he can't go into the meeting making concessions on behalf of the american people and on behalf of the u.s. government. this needs to be a listening session. president needs to go into this meeting saying i'm here to hear what you have to say. and walk out having just heard what the north koreans have to say and bring that back to the career professionals who understand the north korean regime. >> go ahead, ron. >> i say from the north korean perspective, they may view this as already the president has's desire maybe they already gotten a meeting they could not get from other presidents because they demanded more in return. and despite the president's v

kim jong—un did we return to our breaking news story. hinese president sheed this week. kim jong—un did hold talks with chinese president sheed this week. joining us now via webcam is the korea risk group md chad o'caroll. what can you tell us about this meeting between xi jinping and what can you tell us about this meeting between xijinping and kim jong—un? meeting between xijinping and kim jong-un? details are very spartan. as is normally the case when the north korean leader visits china. kimjong—il went north korean leader visits china. kim jong—il went before he north korean leader visits china. kimjong—il went before he died in 2011. the media reports followed this same template. the train went to china, it came back, and only then did official chinese and north korean media start releasing details about the meeting. chad how significant is this meeting between xijinping and kimjong—un before an historic gathering between donald trump and kimjong—un historic gathering between donald trump and kim jong—un this coming may? it is signi

jane: is there danger that these talks could legitimize kim jong-un? at is something he is keen to be seen, a worldrl leader at a table. john: that is one of the state prioties during the six years of kim jong-un's role and the preparation for this. we saw elementof this with the kim regime. theounger sister headed delegation to the opening ceremonies and it looked like a state visit. this aspect of giving legitimacy to the regime of kim jong-un is a priority. right now we have to look at the retroactive cditions being discussed. although there is a presidential agreement from president trump that he will mt with kim jong-un, there's a lot of different hurdles to get through beforehand jane: john park, thank you very much for joining me. john: my pleasure. jane: just before the announcement on north korea yesterday, president trumpif imposed tariffs on imported steel andth aluminum, n teeth of opposition from many in his own party and global allies. the ropean union has already threatened retaliation. harley-davidson motorcycles could be targeted -- no

at the white house. >> we talked about north korean kim jong-un is committed to denuclearization. president trump appreciated the briefing and said he would meet kim jong-un by may to achieve denuclearization. >> we have fox team coverage. john roberts at the white house. we begin with jennifer griffin. she broke this details last

the cautiousness in tokyo since the announcement is good in no way for kim jong-un. , but it is also a good way for mr. trump to stick to his policy and bring kim jong-un to the world. anchor: there is a a lot of movement to make something concrete happen. is the united states government prepared to handle talks moving forward negotiations -- in negotiations? >> what was set of the u.s. government in the last few weeks was very different views in washington. you have the view of donald trump. you have the view of the peaceful people who are in favor of a diplomatic move. you have also people in favor of stricter constraints on north korea. the american policy is not clarified. if you look at mr. tilson's reaction, it shows he was very surprised. anchor: he was surprised by the offer and the president's handling of it. thank you. next, we cross to developments out of kenya where there is apparent movement in the ongoing political crisis. the president and the opposition leader has promised to heal divisions. the politicians made their first publicic appearance togegeth

so on the surface, it sounds like kim jong-un is saying all the right things. even, quote, committing to due nuclearization. is he evolving or is he setting a trap? >> kim is taking a page out of his daddy's. kim jong-un's 2000 playbook. we had the first ever interkorean summit. we found out the south korean leader has paid kim jong-un under the table $500 million as an entrance fee. having changed the atmospherics, kim turned to washington and sent his highest ranking military man to washington, d.c. in october 2000, vice marshal, who met with president clinton and conveyed his boss's invitation to pyongyang. that led to secretary of state madeleine albright's visit to pyongyang three weeks later toasting kim jong-il and president clinton in his last weeks in office had a plan, really was determined to visit north korea, but it didn't pan out. he ran out of time in the wake of the al gore/george w. bush vote recount fiasco. so why is kim doing this? did he wake up all of a sudden on new year's day and had a moment of epiphany and decided to be a nice guy? proba

at the white house. >> we talked about north korean kim jong-un is committed to denuclearization. president trump appreciated the briefing and said he would meet kim jong-un by may to achieve denuclearization. >> we have fox team coverage. john roberts at the white house. we begin with jennifer griffin. she broke this details last night. good morning, jennifer. >> good morning, ed. the senior military leaders i spoke to by phone expressed relief. they've been planning nonstop for possible military options. none of which are good. i can report the joint chiefs are meeting in the war room where military plans are debated. better believe this is at the top of those discussions. here's the reaction from general martin dempsey. >> any diplomatic outreach is a better alternative than a conflict. we're going to have to have stami stamina. this is the same country that negotiated the shape of the table months before they sat down. this will take some stamina. >> we're open to talks. president trump has said he was open to talks and he would willingly meet with kim jong-un when conditions w

thanks very much this is a huge development this is the first meeting that kim jong un is having with a foreign leader and it's very significantly with china i think it's a clear indication of that with the agreement by kim jong un to meet with both south korea's leader and then in theory with the president united states that has shifted the game entirely in the region and regional capitals are responding china and north korea have had terrible relations that have been going from bad to worse for the last two years for china to now shift invite kim jong un for what was described as an unofficial meeting to beijing and have one to one talks between the two leaders clearly shows that china wants to get in early in this process demonstrate that it is the regional power to be reckoned with and it is going to have a say in any negotiations that determine the future status of the korean peninsula and how encouraging therefore is this. version of events according to the chinese state media at least that the north koreans have at least expressed an intention to get rid of their nuclear arsena

the offer from kim jong-un comes in through the south korean delegation that met with kim jong-un earlier in the week, and the president immediately says yes. >> again, i think quite a change, although the president has been telegraphing really both sides of the fence. i'll meet with him, but rex, don't waste your time doing diplomacy. really, we've been moving toward an engagement with the south korean president, moon jae in, as the mediator or the catalyst. >> there are enormous risks, though, if it collapses or if there's a failure. >> exactly. it's really a high-stakes poker game. you could win big or get taken to the cleaners. >> remember in 1972, a long time ago, nixon goes to china. that was a huge breakthrough. we've seen u.s.-china relations develop dramatically since then. but before nixon went to china, he sent henry kissinger, his national security adviser, secretary of state, to secret missions they worked out a lot in advance. have you seen any advance work right now involving high-level u.s. officials meeting directly with high-level north korean officials? >> not that we p

so he was here after all chinese state controlled media waited until kim jong un was back home before confirming what officials had tried so hard to deny just a day earlier in the great hall of the people kim jong un and his wife were welcomed like old friends by president xi jinping a brief greeting in korean was the only time kim's voice was heard. appearance is important at times like this kim looked like an old style communist leader where is she opted for a business suit. the wives of both men were present during most of the photo opportunities. this visit was powerful symbolism for both men but especially for president xi now the first world leader to meet kim and a reminder the china still holds sway over its neighbor and allies. it's not clear what motivated kim jong un to come to beijing now and whether he was offered any incentive to do so but china remains north korea's only ally so it's fair to assume the president she might have wanted to know what kim's negotiating strategy will be during the summit is expected to hold with president trump before may it's a visit the wou

i am sure he would like to meet kim jong—un. president putin. rkina faso's young and revolutionary president, was assassinated, four years after he came to power. a new play here in london, looks at the life and legacy of a man once hailed as a visionary leader. the rise and fall of an african hero has just opened. clarisse fortune went along. more than 30 years after his death, thomas sankara's legend lives on and continues to be a source of inspiration for some — even beyond the continent. ..supposed to retaliate. stop the response! the play deals different episodes of his presidency and shows the power of his personality, including when he was dealing with a regional conflict in 1985. they are trying to pressure you. for actor ike chuks, playing the lead role was a challenge. i read about everything that he did. how he was trying to free his country from debt, how he was trying to free them from the slavery mentality of the imperialism and the colonialism that they had faced. in every aspect i am trying to bring out who he was, his charisma, a

. -- cankim jong-un been kim jong-un be trusted as a negotiating partner? >> based on them following through with concrete actions on the promises they have made. >> lindsey graham said about this news, he said word of warning to north korean president kim jong-un, the worst possible thing you can do with donald trump in person it to meet in person and try to play cam. -- try to play him. think lindseyi graham knows president trip is one of the best negotiators and he has great confidence in his ability and is glad he will be the one at the table for the united states. i think senator graham has been andhe other side of that certainly knows the capabilities and determination of president trump. >> [inaudible] sec. sanders: they have promised to denuclearize, they have promised to stop missile testing, and they recognize we are going to continue in our military exercises. the united sits has made zero concessions. but north korea has made some promises. this won't take place without concrete action that matches the promises made by north korea. >> do you thi

this is the way he's seen his dealing with kim jong-un. kim jong-un it's been said the reason is that these sanctions are hurting. he's looking at his own legacy. he wants to be seen as a statesman, as a world leader who can meet donald trump on the world stage. remember, his father and his grandfather wanted to meet u.s. presidents. it never happened. this time it is going to happen. but there is an ocean between them when it comes to what they're going to actually agree to because is the u.s. really going to give up its alliance with south korea? is it going to move troops off the south korean peninsula? is it going to withdraw its nuclear shield of this region? this is what the north koreans have always wanted. to get some sort of deal is kim jong-un prepared to take unilateral steps to actually start dismantling something seen to be the core of the jooim survival. so massive gulf between the two. but there is talks. >> yeah, one of the reasons we've never done this is because it would legitimize the north korean leader by being in the r

it seems kim jong-un is set to invite u.s. president donald trump to meet. according to fox news. kimll say it one more time, jong-un has invited donald trump to meet, saying we were expecting something happening at 7:00 local time in the eastern seaboard. and is in 25 minutes time, you can see that apparently kim jong-un is set to invite donald trump to meet face-to-face. we will get more on this as it happens. clearly some huge news crossing the terminal. yvonne: we have more news coming from wynn resorts have agreed to pay a settlement in this lawsuit with universal entertainment over the forced redemption of ko machinese pechang makers. we are seeing wynn resorts shares up, and this is a long fight that we have been seeing for years now. with started as the acrimonious falling out with steve wynn and his business partners, some more to watch here. meantime, a hawkish tweet on thursday, as mario draghi remain cautious of the inflation outlook. global economics and policy advisor kathleen hays is back with a review of the bank of japan policy decisions. tar

kim jong-un. around the same time, south korean president, moon jae-in, discussed the planned meeting at a reception for the paralympic games saying, vote, denuclearization and peace on the korean peninsula are beginning to be realized. the news was previewed when the president popped into the white house press room last night saying a major announcement was coming. this is a sharp reversal of the administration's previous positions, from the fire to fury comments to numerous presidential tweets, including one slamming efforts by his predecessors, declaring, talking is not the answer. the news came, it seems, without input from secretary of state rex tillerson, who is in africa. he discussed the talks with north korea before the president's surprise announcement though. >> in terms of direct talks with the united states, and you asked negotiations, we're a long way from negotiations. i think we need to be very cl r clear-eyed and realistic about it. >> let's take a realistic look at the reality on

donald trump, why has he agreed to meet kim jong-un? t he has actually swung pretty wildly between threatening and insulting kim jong—un and then musing about the possibility of sitting down with him. asa possibility of sitting down with him. as a candidate he said, "maybe i will meet kimjong—un him. as a candidate he said, "maybe i will meet kim jong—un and sit down and have a hamburger with him." so that is his style, to move from one end of the other and see where it lands. i think it would be quite appealing for him to be the first sitting president to meet the north korean leader and i think you'll make the most of it. but he has said sanctions will remain regardless, whether there are talks, and the policy is to isolate north korea politically and diplomatically while presenting a clear military option. there has been a clear emphasis between the white house on the state department on that. the white house has been much more willing to consider a military option, whereas the state department has said, we need to at least get in the

alisyn, 12 hours ago if somebody would have told me president trump would accept an invitation from kim jong-un for a summit, i would have said they were crazy. covering north korea after all the missile launches and nuclear tests, who would have thought. here we are. this is apparently happening. kim jong-un never met with a head of state. he never left north korea as the leader. now he could have potentially something that his father and grandfather desperately want, a sitdown, face-to-face meeting with the president of the united states. >> he expressed willingness to meet president trump as soon as possible. >> reporter: president trump agreeing to meet with north korean leader kim jong-un in the next two months, setting the stage for an unprecedented encounter who just last year were threatening nuclear annihilation. >> they will be met with "fire and fury" like the world has never seen. >> rocket man is on a suicide mission for himself and for his regime. >> reporter: north korea responding by calling president trump a dadard, old and is senile. b >> he is committed. he pledged north kore

on thursday in a setting a date and agenda for a meeting between north korean leader kim jong-il and -- kim jong-un south korean presidentmoon jn -- in. jae thursday's meeting comes just days after kim jong-un's unannounced visit to china, he first trip abroad since he replaced his father as the country leader in 2011. china is north korea's most important ally and economic partner. despite the recent wave of economic progress, many analysts have called for cautution. >> t there's still a lot t of ds about north korea's intentions. according to china, kim jong-un is saying he is committed to denuclclearization, but it is unsure what north korea once in return from the united states -- north korea wants in return from the united states. reporter:: nonetheless, u.s. president trump hailed the meeting as a success, even saying he would be willing to meet with kim jong-un. >> the white house is congratulating itself after chinese president xi jinping informed the president about the meeting he had with kim jong-un. white house press secretary sarah huckabee sanders believes it is precisely the campaign

he will accept the in veritation to meet with kim jong un at a place and time to be determined. in the meantime, all sanctions and maximum pressure must remain. trump later tweeted out saying kim jong un talked about denuclearzation with the south korean representatives, not just a freeze. also, no missile testing by north korea during this period of time. great progress being made, but sanctions will remain until an agreement is reached. meeting being planned. >>> a senior administration official said the request was verbally communicated to trump contrary to earlier reports that a physical letter from kim was delivered the to the president. trump would be the first sitting president to meet with or even talk to a north korean leader joining us now, kelly kobea. obviously breaking news having a tremendous impact around the world. how does this news play out today, particularly where you are in the south? >> playing out very well here, ayman. moon jae-in calling this a historic mile stone, a miraculous opportunity. this is something that he has been pushing for for months. he tha

how does the president address kim jong-un? do they shake hands? ontent here, there's a lot that goes into this meeting. >> reporter: absolutely. you have to keep in mind here for kim jong-un being face to face with the president, being treated as an equal with the president of the united states is something quite extraordinary. a lot of critics of meeting say that act is elevating kim and giving him something he's been looking for for a very long time, which is legit imacy on te world stage. >> trace gallagher: this man has got to be under extreme pressure. it wasn't just, okay, let's talk, and would you mind not having these war games. he has pretty much agreed to everything here. it's not a matter of saying there's conditions here. he has said i want to talk, i'm agreeing to everything and dropping everything to make this happen. >> reporter: the point you made about allowing the military exercises to continue is so important. there's a bit of subtlety in the language. part of this is result of the fact that the white house allowed the south kore

that's when kim jong-un said i'd like to meet with the president and he decided it was the proper time to begin the conversation. >> should there be preconditions put on the meeting? what do you think kim jong-un needs to do to get that big meeting? >> that's what he needs to do. he can't conduct nuclear testing. he has to stop missile production. yes to continue to allow us to perform our military necessary exercises on the peninsula. and then he's got to make sure he leaves on the table that discussion for the nuclear stationdenuclearization. this is something they have never committed to. i had just this weekend to review the history, the cia's history of the negotiations over the last decade. i'll admit it took a few hours with the day's basketball. never before have we had the north koreans in a position where the economy was such such risk and their leadership was under such pressure that they would begin conversations under the terms kim jong-un's conceded to. >> what are we willing to give to him in exchange for conditions? >> nothing. >> are we willing to give a guarantee that

the north korean leader kim jong un has been treated to a lavish welcome by chinese president xi jinping during a secretive visit to beijing now this is kim's first known trip abroad since he took power in twenty eleven and the first time he's met she face to face china and north korea are seeking to salvage frayed ties ahead of landmark summit between pyongyang south korea prion yang in the united states it was featured speculation about the meeting as it took place on tuesday both countries so the only confirmed just a few hours ago we have two correspondents on this story we've got kathy novak in seoul and we've got adrian brown in beijing adrian me start with you and very much similar this first encounter between kim and president xi very similar to the kinds of encounters between north korea and china of the past. that's right in this era of political and diplomatic surprises martine here was another as you say in the past north korean leaders have always been given lavis receptions and that was certainly the case this time president xi jinping was you know wearing a sort of western

why haven't we talked to kim jong-un? here ishat we have seen notthat the present -- is that the north koreans have taken positive steps to release tension on the pill into a other than opening up a channel to the south koreans. holds out the possibility of the talks over and over again and the world rushes in and they get something. food, aid or fuel which benefits them and then they returned to their own ways. host: based on what you know of the north korean government, if this meeting would take place, how much coverage of that would it get in north korea and what would it give him in north korea? guest: north korea is not a democracy. they don't actually care that much about what their people think other than as a propaganda piece to show their people that they would say he is being respected on the world stage and they want to make him seem as an equal which is not true. him. an internal boost for host: let's get back to your phone calls. maurice is joining us. i don't you can't discount the ultimate outcome of a reu

this is a fascinating question because the closer we go to him, kim jong-un, the bigger he's going to look. >> yeah, it's difficult to see kim jong-un leaving north korea for a summit in another country. what country would it be? possibly china? but he hasn't yet met the leader of china. he meant hasn't met xky or any head of state, period, at this point. which country would it be if it's not in the demillerized zone? it's hard to see the leader of north korea leaving north korea. >> well, that's a great thought. kelly, thank you for joining us. let's go back to nbc chief white house correspondent hallie jackson. we're already talking about place, location, where they're going to meet by may, if it's by may, can you imagine president trump heading all the way over to this guy so he can have a home court advantage along the 3th parallel? is that what they're talking about, our president goes to him. >> reporter: right now, it is as much a question in washington, d.c. as it is there in south koreaing in seoul where kelly is as she just talked about. i will tell you during the discussion

as very prepared for these talks what about south korea and president because you know we had kim jong un's father kim jong il make his first trip to china and india two thousand reportedly to consult with the chinese leadership ahead of his summit with the south korea's then lida are we seeing something similar here and is south korea more prepared than their previous governments have begun and then the u.s. is now well the south korean summit is is interesting in the sense that it's going to be going very soon and we strongly that they've motivated it almost equally in the same way as the north korean interest in particular in this idea and kim jong un's new speech full is something you know all this into clear apartments take place both careers were very were it last year about the threat of war and i think that selfishly for the right reasons. oh beijing and pyongyang are kind of all in the same page with regards to probably won't wind wanting to provide optics that will satisfy trump at least until the end of his in his generation and so whatever it can take from those three i'm not sa

the meeting when the two envoys from south korea went to the north to meet kim jong-un which led to this message from kim going to donald trump. the envoy was saying that kim jong-un was very relaxed and telling jokes about himself and well aware of the little rocket man monikers and the other belittling comments made by ap this meeting because many times a meeting with the u.s. is seen as a carrot and fairly strict preconditions to get to that meeting. although the administration says, look, you have two very strong and most important decisive leaders meeting. so, those two can actually make decisions there and in a position to make decisions. that is why it is so important for this summit tago ahead, christine. >> how is the rest of the summit reacting? >> the south korean president calls this miraculous. almost miraculous to see this meeting coming together. the south koreans have been cautioning over the last few days about the fact that, temper your optimism, this is very, very early days, indeed, no relaxing of sanctions against north korea. that was not echoed by the u.s., but jap