>>> welcome to our viewers here in the united states and all around the world, i'm natalie allen. >> and i'm george howell from cnn world headquarters in atlanta. newsroom starts right now. it is 3:00 a.m. on the u.s. east coast, north korea defying the world yet again firing another missile, the ninth test so far since january. >> they launched a short range missile from east coast early monday local time. it flew about 280 miles for about six minutes. japan said it landed in the ocean within its exclusive economic zone. >> we're hearing reaction throughout the region. japan and south korea strongly condemning the launch by kim jong un's regime. they're vowing to take concrete action with the united states. listen. >> we can never tolerate korea's provocation. we have launched a fair and protest. as we have agreed north korean issue is -- in order to deter north korea, we'll take concrete actions together with united states. we will maintain high vigilance and coordinations with south korea and international community and take all possible measures to secure the safety of the people

i'm natalie allen. >> and i'm george howell. "newsroom" starts right now. >>> you're top story, president's son-in-law and close adviser jared kushner reportedly wanted to set up a secret line of communications with moscow that bypassed normal diplomatic channels and this was well before mr. trump took office. >> this new story coming from the "washington post" on and "new york times" adding that the back channel was intended to discuss strategy in sear xwra a syria and other matters. more from elise labott. >> reporter: they discussed a proposal by president trump's son-in-law to russia's ambassador to the u.s. to create a secret communications channel between the trump transition and the chemical rin tkremlin. the post reported kushner made the proposal to kislyak during an early december meeting at trump tower to use russian diplomatic facilities to shield their pre-inauguration discussions according to u.s. officials. cnn previously reported the two men met as part of an effort to create a back channel to russian president v

. >>> welcome to our viewers here in the united states and all around the world, i'm natalie allen. >lanta. newsroom starts right now.

. >> and i'm natalie allen. newsroom starts right now. >>> u.s. president trump is back in washington after an eight-day trip to the middle east and europe that kept hem away from the growing plolitical firestor back at home surrounding the russia investigation. >> a source now confirms to cnn, mr. trump's son-in-law, jared kushner, wanted to set up a secret communications line between the trump transition team and the kremlin, something he proposed to the russian ambassador during a meeting in trump tower during the transition. no sooner had the president stepped off the helicopter to the white house lawn saturday than he was asked about that question. take a listen. >> mr. president, is there a plan to set up a back channel to the russians? >> earlier on saturday, mr. trump's top economic and security advisers shut down any questions about the allegations. here's how they did it. >> we're not going to comment on jared. we're just not going to comment. >> generally speaking, general, would you be concerned if somebody on security council were to

. >> i am natalie allen. newsroom starts right now. >>> this story dates back to the trump transition. jared kushner reportedly tried to set up a back channel with moscow so conversations couldn't be monitored by u.s. intelligence agencies. >> "the washington post" reports that kushner, top adviser to president trump and his son-in-law brought up the possibility of secret communications last december with the russian ambassador. cnn's jessica schneider fills us in. >> reporter: new reporting the president's son-in-law and top adviser jared kushner proposed setting up secret methods of communication with the kremlin back in december. "the washington post" first reported this. now "new york times" is adding the back channel of communication was meant to discuss strategy in syria and other policy issues. u.s. officials briefed on intelligence reports told the post that the intelligence community picked up these details when the russian ambassador reached out to superiors in moscow. during a meeting in december,

i'm natalie allen. >> and i'm george howell. newsroom starts right now. ♪ >>> our top story, u.s.sident donald trump back at the white house after an eight-day trip to the middle east and europe, but while he was gone, the political firestorm back home over russian meddling in the election grew even bigger >> to the heart of the controversy, his own son-in-law, jared kushner. you see the u.s. president, donald trump, video taken earlier as he returned to washington. as he walked to the white house with the first lady, he was asked about it. >> mr. president -- [ inaudible ] >> well, as you just saw, mr. trump would not answer. for the latest on what happens next, here's cnn's ryan nobles. >> reporter: president trump is back in washington after his lengthy trip abroad. and even though his team feels confident the trip was successful, he returns to plenty of controversy, including a number of issues involving his son-in-law and senior adviser, jared kushner. kushner has yet to respond to reports that he had set up a secret back channel line of communication with the russians. it co

i'm natalie allen. >> and

. >> and i'm natalie allen.newsroom" starts right now. >>> good early morning to all here in the states. on the korean peninsula, a defy answer show of source from one side, a vow coming from the other. >> north korea fired a short range ballistic missile on monday, its third in just over three weeks. japan says it landed in the sea within 200 miles of the japanese coast. >> south korea calls the launch a provocation and is promising strong punishment from its military. japan says that it will take concrete action together with the united states. listen. >> translator: we can never tolerate north korea's continued provocation, ignoring the repeated warnings by the international xhun community. as we have agreed at the g7, north korean issue is the priority for the international community. in order to deter north korea, we will take concrete actions together with the united states. we will maintain high vigilance in coordination with south korea and international community and take all possible measures to secure

. >>> earlier on, my colleague, natalie allen, spoke with nigeria's former minister of education aboutpact that social media had on bringing these schoolgirls back home. >> i can't even describe how i feel when the news first broke. i couldn't hold myself back. and so, i immediately tweeted that i am fully praying right now that this news be true. and then i began to walk and the more i walk the more it come out that the news was actually real. and at that point in time, my heart was pounding so badly. i mean, ee was palpitating. i just couldn't take it all in. >> yeah. >> i mean, we've had expectation, but for it to actually then become true, that was emotionally a very -- >> hard to describe, yeah. i can't imagine. while you talk, i've got chills right now, goose bumps, because the world got behind your effort, so many people's efforts, to say, no, this isn't acceptable, bring back our girls. and the world held it up. and this is happening. so, help us understand how the power of social media with the government is calling these girls to come home. >> you know, the power of social me