and north korea. but as gordon chang and as paula has said, a lot of activity and obviously north korea wanting to keep itself in the news. >> clearly north korea is doing this gesture for some reason, obviously they're not explaining. elise, i don't know where your microphone is, but you may want to move it a little closer. we're having a little trouble hearing what you're saying. but give us the sense over there, the reaction we're likely to get from u.s. officials. are they going to welcome this, say this is long overdue? clearly something is going on right now as far as north korea's relationship with south korea and indeed the rest of the world. and it comes in the wake of this mystery surrounding the leader, kim jong-un. he disappeared for 40 days. >> that's right. obviously they're going to welcome the release of mr. fowle. but as we've been talking about, there are two other u.s. citizens still being held by north korea. kenneth bae whose health seems to be in decline and is serving time in th

north and south korea held high level military talks in seven years. al jazeera was given exclusive access to the area on the north side of the border. we start on that report. >> reporter: along the border between the two koreas. from pyongyang. one of the last vestiges of the cold war. >> one of the most heavily fortified areas in the world. we were not allowed to film because of security concerns. >> we came here to meet lieutenant colonel of the korean army. he gives his version of why there has been an exchange of fire on the border in the last few days. >> it is time to uplift the atmosphere for the reunification of koreas. it shows a unification and leads to war. >> north and south korea met for the first time in nearly four years to discuss operations over the border. it was made clear we could only film what we are told for. this is completely 38. the front line in a 60 year conflict. >> that side is the u.s. and south korea. and all of this is north korea. there are other south korean dogs that are wearing the helmets on the other side. >> nor

and all of this is north korea. there are other south korean dogs wearing their helmets on the opposite side. >> north korean soldiers face off against enemies. south korea and its allies, the united states. this is the closest we get to south korea, it's there in front. you can see tourists on the other side. we were supposed to go in the blue building controlled by the united states, but the doors are closed. >> the ltcol says there's 40,000 troops on the other side, and 1,000 nuclear weapons, the u.s. had 30,000 troops deployed in the peninsula, and there haven't been nuclear weapons in the south. the west is saying north korea needs to dismantle their programs, what will it take? >> we will only give up our nuclear weapons when the countries that threaten us give up their's. once theirs disappear, so will ours. >> while the last few days have seen a new possibility of dialogue, it's the nuclear question that continues to keep north korea isolated and under sanctions. >> analysts in seoul grey. it's unlikely the

used to gathering intelligence on north korea. >> north korea was referred to as the c.i.a. as the hardest of the hard targets. in often cases a wilderness of mirrors. there's much we don't know and certainly the motivation for the release right now, we'll be wait for additional information. there are things we do know, particularly given the track record of north korea. we've seen them arrest and then release americans, whether by a senior envoy visit or in this case, no, and some have predicted that this would be north korea turning over a new leaf under this new leader or his predecessors. not so far. >> this leader disappeared for over a month and a week ago he reappeared suddenly. what do you make of that? >> again, two groups. one was health, the other was political intrigue, coup or assassination. i think most of us thought hfts a health situation. we weren't seeing evidence for a coup or invasion situation. so it's some kind of either minor or medium level medical issue, but that does still raise the issue, though, because all the power is centralized in jim -- kim j

north korean threat. we have a commitment to south korea against the north korean threat as he promote regional stability. we will continue to work closely with the military to enhance our alliance that will improve the readiness. the united states and republic of korea were able to overcome differences through friendship and trust. they make up the fabric of our alliance. is a testament to how important the connection of our alliance is and will be for years to come. i look forward to your questions. thank you. >> questions? >> a couple of questions on capabilities. you were taking over, you talked about the need for south korea to beef up their missile defense. what improvements have been made a year later? be a leadingt they factor in the turnover? i'm thinking about the apache longbows. can you review the bidding? >> they have made the commitment by budgeting for the systems, many of which you have talked about. it will take a few years for you to bring them on. in some cases they have signed the contract. that is important. we need greater isr. others will help with that. in terms of the missile defe

you see him there, jeffrey fowle was arrested for handing out a bible in a club in north korea, he is expected to be home haila today. now, there are two other americans detained in korea, including kenneth bey, accused of planning to bring down the regime. he was sentenced to 15 years hard labor. well, in an interview with cnn he says he is working eight hours a day six days a week at a labor camp but was being treated as humanely as possible. we should note that government officials were present when he said this to us. and matthew miller entered the country seeking asylum and tore up his visa. military officials say his situation is very urgent and believes he will be sent to prison. >>> now, a research scholar at columbia university and a cnn analyst, i spoke with her a short time ago and began to ask her about north korea's possible motives for releasing fowle. >> reporter: well, what north koreans typically want is a very high level engagement. as you know, previously, jimmy carter, former president jimmy carter went to north korea and former president bill clinton went to north

and north korea? >> i think that is a figure leaf. doesn't represent a real fact behind this case. i think that you know, the north korean leader needs to take this action as ambassador richardson was saying in a way to try to thaw relations a little bit. and he needs to pin it on the united states. it's certainly the case throughout the obama administration, as was the case in prior administrations that the united states continues to press for the release of individuals held, americans held by the north koreans and press very hard behind the scenes using traditional methods like the swedish. but there's no, there's no agreement here. what i know is true is that the administration is continuing to press for the release of the other two americans. >> why do you think, jay, that he was released, jeffrey fowle was released rather than kenneth bae and matthew mill centre. >> that's an excellent question. i think that one reason may be that kenneth bae was sentenced and he's serving hard labor, which is tragic. and mr. fowle wasn't. but you

a father of three who had a passion for adventure and went to north korea on vacation. unfortunately he left behind a bible in his hotel room. as far as the north koreans were concerned. that was an offense. the united states tried for a long time to get 18 envoy to negotiate his release and the north koreans wouldn't have it, but they released him. two americans remain detained in north korea. ben ethbay who is a korean american has been sentenced to 15 years in jail. the other man, matthew miller is detained and he was a tourist for a gross violation of north korea's legal order. their status is still in the balance, but it seems like they will be on the way to the united states. >> now over to the mid-terms. take a listen to president obama offering real talk to voters in chicago. happy news here at home. listen to this. >> they want it connected on a much grander scale. black voters. they are writing that the white house is on something of a secret offensive. the president is waging an under the radar campaign roaring advertisements and interviews and telephone calls

but it remains unclear this morning, why north korea decided to release fowle. >> as fowle heads homeout what this means for kenneth bye and matthew miller, the other two americans still detained by the north. and the regime's reclusive leader, kim jong-un has made yet

north korea's denuclearization and a halt to the sophistication of its nuclear weapons, all of these have to be real, it has to lead to real solutions. to that end between korea and u.s., and between korea, u.s. and china, we have had many talks. with the governments, we have had many talks and secretary kerry has also recently reiterated that in order to advance these -- a resolution to these issues, we need to generate more creative ideas, so we will have more consultations on that. >> so let me make it absolutely clear, that the mere entering into talks is not an invitation to take any actions regarding troops or anything else at this point. it would be way too premature to have any thought or, you know, even discussion about such a thing. the only purpose of entering the talks is to come to an understanding regarding first the denuclearization and then follow the denuclearization, obviously, whatever relationship might be appropriate. but it is entirely premature to be talking about any troop reductions or anything else at this point in time. as it is also premature to have any th

its investigations indicate that eight abductees are dead and the four others have never entered north korea. >>> a japanese government official says the north korean committee offered no specific information about the abductees. the official argues the committee will take more time to look into the fate of the abductees. the official notes the committee also failed to clarify when it will inform japan about the results of its investigations. the japanese government plans to provide details of the bilateral talks to families of the abductees on friday. the relatives of the abductees closely listened to prime minister abe's explanation of the meetings in pyongyang. however, some are still doubtful about the results of the japanese delegation's visit. >> translator: the prime minister said that north korean officials would conduct thorough investigations without sticking to the results of past probes. but i don't know how we should interpret the meaning of this comment. the best result for us is that north korea will admit its mistakes in the previous report. it said the japanese abductees had

he went to north korea, simply on a vacation. but it appears that he left a bible somewhere, we're not quite sure whether it was in a hotel room, someone else has speculated that it was at a north korean club for north korean sailors. but either way, he seems to have been a man, if you like, on a mission and the north koreans didn't take kindly to that at all. he is now on his way home in a pretty extraordinary and rapid day of developments. >> yeah, bill, i think americans find it very odd and strange that people are actually considering north korea as a vacation spot. but apparently some do. good news for this gentleman from ohio. thank you, bill neely, we appreciate it. more on the release of jeffrey fowle. >>> governor jay nixon is unveiling what is being called a new effort to reduce issues raised by events in ferguson. being joined from business, education and civil rights organizations as well as representatives of police agencies to reveal the new plan. now, of course, today's event comes on the heels of more than 70 conse

north korea does indeed have labor camps.ohn than betz, al jazeera, new york. >> let's take a deep dive on this issue, joying us is a former official to the u.s. state department who participated in the korean peace talks. what do you make of these surprise announcements over the last couple of weeks at a time when kim jung un is nowhere to be seen? >> well, i think we shouldn't read too much in his absence. i think this is precisely a way to show it is business as usual, kim jung un is in charge. and in his absence, whether he shows up tomorrow or not, is really an indication that he is suffering in some fashion or another. and i think you need to take in this case what the north korean's say at their word. >> what is the political structure like and what are the dynamics at play? >> well, compared to 20 or 30 years ago, we know a lot about north korea. we know about the negotiating behave. we knew a lot about the father, their weapons systems, and the economy. but when it comes down to the leadership structure, and who is i

it matters to our relationship in the global relationship of north korea. >> absolutely, north korea,ng about north korea we are in a state of war, our key allic, we have 23 sorbing it does matter until there is reunification, peaceful reunification, it matters. of course, there is the missile issue and the nuclear issue. we assess with high confidence north korea has nuclear capabilities, nuclear weapons, six to 12 and a delivery system. >> an unknown and eratic leader. >> this is a very good point on the leader. the last -- when he took over in december of 2011, when his father passed away, there was high expectation. but in the following two years, this is a man who launched missiles, nuclear tests, threatened the united states and south korea with pre-emptive nuclear strike, executed his uncle who facilitated the transfer of power, number 2, in the country. he did a number of things which indicated and moved senior leaders in the military every other month, people were changing. this is a leader who was unpredictable, eratic. so, there was a lot of concern. tic there was a lot of

north korea often threatens to respond to these balloons and today they did. no casualties in the south but there's no way of knowing if that's the case in the north. fresh violence as the world is still wondering where the 31-year-old north korean leader is. kim jong-un was seen limpin over the summer and state-run media admitting he was feeling discomfort. >> we look at the photos a and say this guy is missing, that guy is missing. >> reporter: five weeks out of the public eye is a long time for a leader who, up until now, has not been camera shy. kim did not attend the ceremony for the founding of the workers party, instead sending flowers to pay for his respects to his late father kim jong-il. ankle surgery, stroke, all military krc military coup, some say it's unlikely with the recent diplomacy. >> you will not expect a newly established collective leadership, a group of old bureaucrats to be so bold and active. >> reporter: south korea's defense minister believes he may be near the hospital with his wife and sister. it's the same hospital where his late f

china has always been a sort of lifeline for north korea. he chinese-north korean border. near the border is our david mckenzie. i know you're there because you're able to meet one man who knows how to smuggle goods across the border. and it's not as if he's kind of buy himse by himself. he says this is quite a sophisticated network. >> that's right. it is sophisticated. i wanted to give you a sense of where i am. this is dyangdong in northeast china. tourists in this area, fishermen have been out today. they're nervous of the camera, though. but errol, here is near to the border, behind me is north korea. the gleaming apartment buildings on the chinese side. very different on north korea. a lot of disused factories. but still, we've been seeing tracks all morning going in. and help iing trade with north korea. we talked to one man who's an illegal smuggler who gets goods and shows up just how desperate even regime soldiers are. a. >> this is the north korea you're not supposed to see. an elderlya scavenging in the fields for food. a man savi

abduction issue again during the afternoon session. >>> another issue that's divided japan and north korea for seven decades is that the japanese governments want the north koreans to prepate rat remains dating back to the end of world war ii. officials say more than 34,000 japanese nationals died in what is now north korea. the remains of most of them have not been returned. >> reporter: the korean peninsula was under japanese colonial rule. japan's retreat at the end of the war paved the way for an invasion by the soviet union. many japanese living in what is now north korea became stranded or were detained. they endured hunger and bitterly cold winters. japanese officials say the remains of 20,000 of those who died are still in north korea. three years ago, authorities in pyongyang said they had located the remains of numerous japanese. they said the japanese government could arrange to collect them. the following year, relatives of some of the deceased visited north korea for the first time. and others have traveled since then to visit possible burial sites in pyongyang and other citie

he was in detention in north korea. we will provide assistance to him and to his family in the coming days and weeks if he requires that. >> and john, there's a lot of explanation on whether this is a diplomatic opening. but there are two other americans that remain deaned there, kenneth bae and matthew miller. >> mike viqueira at the white house. paul worked with energy on the issues, and he's a program director at the plowshares fund. what do you make of this? are you surprised? >> i am a bit surprised, john, and thank you for having me. in the past couple of episodes where we had american detainees, there has been a little bit more visibility in the days and weeks prior to their release. and in this case, mr. fowle was released. and it's a surprise. >> do you think that there's any connection between what's going on in north korea, and we don't know what's going on in north korea following kim jong un's disappearance. >> i doubt it. and the question you and is the heart of the matter. i'm smiling a bit at your north

but they did also point out that he has been a prisoner in north korea. 's likely to go through a debrief when he gets to the united states probably when he's been reunited with his family. but it is certainly an interesting development. north cree had been insisting that they wanted a high-level delegation to come and talk about these three u.s. citizens they have in detention. like we've seen in the past, ex-president, jimmy carter, bill clinton have secured the release of previous citizens. as far as we know, that didn't happen with jeffrey fowle but there are still two u.s. citizens in detention, john. >> paula, any indication why jeffrey fowle and not the other two citizens as you say, still being held in north korea? >> i was talking to a couple of north korean observers who watched the country for many years about this they said basically because maybe his crime was seen as a lesser crime. kenneth bae has been sentenced to 15 years hard labor. he's spent two years in the country. his crime, former missionary is considered to be more grave, at least

what i can tell you from my trip to north korea last month is i got the impression that the north korean government was pleased with the way that jeffrey fowle handled himself during his interview with cnn. take a look. >> i don't have any complaints. the food has been good. i got a daily walk with the guides. even medical care has been furnished a couple of times. and quarters are good. got a hotel suite type of room. so i don't have any complaints about the treatment. it's been very good so far, and i hope and pray it continues whether i'm here two more days or two more decades, whatever the casey, the bottom line, your message about your conditions here? >> i'm good for the time being. but i need to let people know that i'm getting desperate. i'm getting desperate for help. >> reporter: so rosemary, you notice he talked about how well he was being treated. it seemed to me that that was very important for north korea to get that message across, especially in light of the united nations report accusing them of widespread human rights abuses, and other agencies saying millions of people

that's crime in north korea apparently. we will tell you how he got out. >>> you might have noticed, i'm in beautiful jacksonville, florida, two weeks before election day. i will be moderating a debate between florida's current governor and florida's former governor, tonight at 7 p.m. eastern, you will get a sneak peek at the fiery showdown between rick scott and charlie crist, coming up next. hey! so i'm looking at my bill, and my fico® credit score's on here. we give you your fico® score each month for free! awesomesauce! wow! the only person i know that says that is...lisa? apparently. peek at the fiery showdown at discover, we treat you like you'd treat you. get the it card and see your fico® credit score. so right now if you get the 15 gig plan, we'll double the data and make it 30 gigs for the same price. 30 gigs? wow - that's a lot. you don't have to do that for me. oh, that's ok... seriously, i wouldn't want you to get in trouble... it's the same plan for everyone. families...businesses...whoever. riiiiight. (yellin

policy with iraq and north korea today, neither great. do you see your times in those positions of successes? peoplell let other decide whether it is a success and failure. problem whenhad a it was clear that we could not keep things moving because the north koreans would not allow any kind of verification regime. others want to blame about the fact that the negotiations ended. i will let other people decide about that. >> chris hill himself went through a busy time. just as busy and so many problems that he too is still involved. you can find much more on our website. meyou would like to reach and most of the bbc team you can find us at twitter. worldll of us here at bbc news america, thank you for watching. due to an in again tomorrow. -- due tune in again tomorrow. >> make sense of international news. >> funding is made possible by the freeman foundation, newman's own foundation, giving all profits to charity and pursuing the common good for over 30 years, kovler foundation, and union bank. >> for 150 years we believe the commercial ba

although north korea had announced that her brother had died, she didn't believe it. later north korea sent remains that it said were kaoru's but the japanese government conducted dna analysis and found they had no connection with him. >> translator: receiving those remains was so harsh, and to think that we were the only family to be treated like this. how could they do such a thing to kaoru? >> reporter: saito went out on the streets to collect signatures for a petition in the hope of bringing her brother home. their mother was elderly. she, too, had been hoping for kaoru's immediate return. four years ago, when talks over the abductees had come to a standstill, saito visited south korea. she made her way to a spot near the north/south border to send a message to her brother. she released a balloon with a photo of her family attached and a note from their mother. but in january of this year, suniyo died, age 92. she never got to see her son again. >> translator: i don't want to get depressed or be sad just because my brother was abducted. i believe i'll be reunited

that cry for help. >> hundreds of convictions are being re-evaluated in brooklyn alone >>> north and south korea have held their first high level military talks in seven years. discussions took place in the border village. teresa bow from al jazeera has been granted prime ministers to film in the north korean area on the northern side. we can talk to teresa who is now in seoul. tell us about this fascinating trip. >> well, as you say, it was a fascinating trip, but difficult, too, especially as a journalist. it was carefully planned and staged. we had a tight schedule, very little time on each one of the locations, especially this is a very big challenge for the tv crews, having little time where we wept, when all the people we were supposed to interview are pre set, everything was planned. it was very, very challenging. we arrived at an interesting time. it was a time when kim jong un had not been seep for at least a month. it was interesting to be in the city. we heard rumours before that the capital had been shut down, but we were able to go in and saw on the streets everything seemed normal,

the detailed reports came in -- he was detained as he was trying to leave north korea.f the interviews that cnn got exclusively of the three detainees in north korea. implement to bring up our global affairs correspondent, elise labott. what else do you know about this? >> reporter: that's really about it. it came out of the blue this morning. one of our sources in the region told us that there was a u.s. plane in pyongyang. and after looking and checking with our sources, we were told that mr. fowl, 56-year-old man from dayton, ohio, is on his way home. obviously his family will be very happy, as you said. he was arrested in may for leaving a hotel, a bible there. north korea does allow some religious organizations and churches throughout the country but does not tolerate any type of independent religion or pr proselytizin proselytizing. in an exclusive interview with cnn last month, he talked about his charges and admitted his guilt. take a listen. unfortunately we don't have that sound. we'll get it for you as soon as we can. but basically what he was saying is that

he has, however, been in detention in north korea. l continue in the coming days and weeks. i think we'll let the north koreans speak for themselves why they decided to do this, why now. but again, we were very pleased he could be released and urge the release of the other two. >> those other two americans are kenneth bay and matthew miller. cnn's will rippley got to talk with them. and with fowle just last month, in fact. he joins us now live from tokyo. thanks for joining us. the big question here is why was jeffrey fowle released and the other two kept in captivity? what do you make of that? >> that's -- yeah, that's a question that the state department a spokesman said they will let north korea answer. and i did e-mail my source within the north korean government for a comment overnight and i'm still waiting for a response back from them. but the impression that i got after interviewing those three americans last month, rosemary, was that the korean government was very pleased with how he handled himself at an interview. he hit a l

north korea is a dynasty. a kim dynasty. in fact, kim jong-un is not ruling. te authority stems from his grandfather and his grandfather is like a god in north korean belief system. so no one can dare touch kim's family. i don't think so. but if anything probably sort of royal coup you might say an alternative where persons can emerge as potential leaders but not outside the family can dare challenge his authority. >> and speaking of the family, what do you make of some talk that maybe his sister is actually ruling north korea. >> i think that he has brothers. it's a little far-fetched. also, a female in north korea becoming the head of a state is also quite far-fetched speblg lags. i don't think the younger sister is in any position to succeed him. i think he's politically healthy. he simply could not come out in that terrible, physical shape limping. i fully expect him to deliver a major speech. after his three top assistants went to south korea and they had some substantive talks, if kim jong-un is going to deliver a major address, it has to be crafted very

"the new york times," american jeffrey fowle has been released by north korea after six months of captivity. he was arrested for leaving a bible in a hotel. the obama administration says they're working on the release of two other americans detained in north korea. >> we get this. saudi arabia's top muslim cleric said twitter is, quote, evil and nothing more than a source of lies. >> okay, so listen, we agree, right? everybody, we good with that on some base, about twitter being evil and a source of lies? >> was for me yesterday.

as a vital link for many in north korea. thanks very much. we appreciate that. >>> still to come for you, the u.k. stepping up its commitment to fight ebola. coming up, we'll speak live to the commander of this british naval ship set to depart to sierra leone within the next few hours. ow fastgoing?ere about 55. where you headed at such an appropriate speed? across the country to enhance the nation's most reliable 4g lte network. how's it working for ya? better than ever. how'd you do it? added cell sites. increased capacity. and your point is... so you can download music, games, and directions for the road when you need them. who's this guy? oh that's charlie. you ever put pepper spray on your burrito? i like it spicy but not like uggggh spicy. he always like this? you have no idea. at&t. the nation's most reliable 4g lte network. [ male announcer ] you wouldn't ignore signs of damage in your home. are you sure you're not ignoring them in your body? even if you're treating your crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis, an occa

this is a big no-no in communist north korea. paula hancocks, the question to you, actually, let me pause. let's take a listen to when he spoke exclusively to will ripley not too long ago back in september. here he was. >> we talked about the charges you're facing as you've been told. >> the charges are in violation of dprk law which stems from y leaving a bible on the trip. it was a covert act and violation of tourist purposes, as well. and i admitted my guilt to to the government. and signed a statement to that effect and also put in a request for forgiveness to the people and the government of the dprk. and the legal process is ongoing right now. and it's in the final stages of preliminary investigation. and the trial will be forthcoming soon. and so time is getting urgent. >> so admitting guilt, forgiveness. talked about this trial. he expected to be tried as have the other two americans being held by pyongyang. do we know if he was put on trial? isn't that what they do there? >> as far as we know, from the information we get

well, this is really busyness as usual for north korea. we have to keep in mind this is a military first state, essentially far right state. it needs constant tension and routine small scale military triumphs in order to justify its existence. on the other hand it doesn't want the provocations to result in all out war. so what the regime does is put slack in the rope in a peace gesture so when the rope is pulled tight again, things don't get out of hand. that's exactly what we've seen over the past few weeks. what viewers saw many the clips, the surprise meeting followed be by a squirmish in the yellow sea, followed by artillery fire at the dmz. bauds there had been the friendly meeting at the beginning, the south korea response has been mild, actually quite positive. we need to keep in mind a north korean peace gesture is tolled by increase in tension as by a decrease the in tension. >>> the people who run a nuclear plant in north western japan have opened their doors to show case new safety measures. their facility has been offline to ha

. >>> an exchange of gunfire between north and south korea. th korean defense minister says gunners from the north shot at balloons, carrying leaflets, criticize iing. the leaflets were timed for an important north korean anniversary which kim jong un apparently missed. he hasn't been seen in public since early september. kim's absence is fueling a lot of speculation in international community. some say he's sick. others wonder if he actually lost power. in seoul, south korea, joining us live. you know better than anyone else about the rumors swirling around. what exactly is going on in the north korean regime? what are you hearing? >> reporter: we have heard something from the south korean government, the defense minister friday seemed to suggest that he believed that he was staying in one of his homes near a hospital in pyongyang, with his wife and also his sister. it's a very high-tech hospital, as you might imagine. it is one that has basically only treatment for the elite of pyongyang. his father, kim jong il and his grandfather had been t

. >>> north and south korea have held their first high level military talks in seven years. the discussions took place in the border village. and today, granted access to film inside of the joint security area, the north korean side of the border just a few days before the meeting. >> on the road, the border between the two koreas. >> the border between north and south korea, it's one of the most heavily fortified borders in the world. we were not allowed to film because of concerns. >> we came here to meet lieutenant colonel of the people's army. he gave his version of why there has been an exchange of fire at the border in the last few days. >> it's the atmosphere to lead to war. >> on wednesday, north and south korea met for the first time in nearly four years. it's made clear we can only film what we're told to. this is parallel 38, the front land in a six-year long conflict. north korea, there are other south korean dogs, wearing the helmets of the opposite side. >> the north korean soldiers facing the off with their long-time enemy. south korea and its ally, the united

north korea needs 5.4 million tonnes. producing around 5 million, and the rest can be supplied around international organizations. >> it's difficult to know what conditions are like in other parts of the country. people here are used to living in hardship. at this model farm. it is not the exception. they insist things are better than before. >> human rights group freedom house is calling on the u.s. to help secure the freedom of an american activist and other demonstrators in egypt. sultan is accused of spreading false information. highs trial was postponed on wednesday. he's been on hunger strike since january and send back to prison from hospital, he is in critical condition. freedom house issued the statement: . >> meanwhile, a keynote address on behalf of gaoled al jazeera journalist peter greste has been read out at a media award ceremony in london. it recognises sournalists who showed integrity, courage and spirit. peter greste and mohamed fadel fahmy and baher mohamed have been detained in eguilt for 293 days, fal

/north korea relations. plus fresh off her nobel peace prize win, malala speaks exclusively with msnbc's own ronan farrow. what's next for the international phenom. first, which teams were playing the last time a sitting president attended a world series game? the first person to tweet the correct answer will get an on-air shoutout. the answer and more coming up on "the daily rundown." hint, curt schilling. [ male announcer ] it's a warning. a wake-up call. but it's not happening out there. it's happening in here. [ sirens wailing ] inside of you. even if you're treating your crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis, an occasional flare may be a sign of damaging inflammation. learn more about the role damaging inflammation may be playing in your symptoms with the expert advice tool at crohnsandcolitis.com. and then speak with your gastroenterologist. with the expert advice tool at crohnsandcolitis.com. come on! let's hide in the attic. no. in the basement. why can't we just get in the running car? are you crazy

now to north korea and its leader. he has not been seen in weeks.cik jong-un's absence is fueling speculation. jonathan betz is here. jonathan. >> rumors are flying. no one seems to know what happened to north korea's secretive leader. not having been seen for more than a month, kim jong-un has missed key event after key event. not surprisingly his co-leaders have been seen. only saying he suffers from, quote, discomfort. after last being seen walking with a limp. >> i'm pretty sure it's not good idea to show him in bad physical condition. >> reporter: but many others are not so sure. that visit to the south by three south korean leaders. the appearance of one of them caused the biggest stir. raised hopes the north might be willing to talk to the south. >> translator: i hope its will to improve the south and north korean relations. >> reporter: there are reports kim's younger sister may have taken over. a flurry of headlines the north's willingness to speak to the south, that north korea does indeed have little changes and even less is shared. now t

korea. shots were fired today over the maritime border between north and south korea.this, do you think, have anything to do with this perceived instability? >> well, it very well could. whenever you see sort of erratic jerking behavior from a country like north korea, that's so opaque, it's not a good sign. normally you'd like to see more consistent signals. but the fact that you have this senior envoy that goes over there and then two separate occasion which shots are fired doesn't leave one to feel very comfortable with the fact that it's business as usual inside of pyongyang. >> this of course is a country where the north korean people are told over and over by state-run media that their dear leader is divine, is close to invincible. how long do you think the north korean leadership can delay before acknowledging something is going on? >> well, i don't think they can delay much longer. like i said, on the one hand, they do pay a great deal of attention to what's said on cnn and other western media about the western leadership, the fact that there's so much speculat

but that suggests that there is stability in north korea. it suggests that kim jong-un is very much in control. belittling speculation that there may have been a coup, if it was the two, three and four here in control. it's unlikely they would leave the country. what we're seeing and hearing, is kim jong-un is likely to have health issues. he was seen limping back in july. we know his father had health issues, as well. gout experts saying he may have that, too. errol? >> we'll have to continue to wonder what's happening in north korea. paula hancock, live from seoul. thanks for helping us there. >>> we're going to turn our attention to the fight against i.s.i.s. turkey says it's not getting involved. i was out for a bike ride. i didn't think i'd have a heart attack. but i did. i'm mike, and i'm very much alive. now my doctor recommends a bayer aspirin regimen to help prevent another heart attack. be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. has a new easy-to-swallow coating... so the nutrients for your eyes, heart and

inside north korea our exclusive look if new farming reforms will help end starvation. ♪ we begin inya that is where the credit crescent called for ceasefire in benghazi to move out families trapped by fighting and they launched offensive to gain grounds in the city and the general said he will run for president if libya demands it and has been involved in politics since the 1960s and he once fought former leader gadhafi and he rose through the ranks and head of the military and he was captured in the 1987 conflict with neighboring chad and gaddafi said that was not true and he spent 20 years trying to go against gaddafi and fought alongside some of the groups that are now his rivals and victoria has more. [gunfire] benghazi is caught up in a struggle for control between forces loyal to libya's national recognized government and rival malitia groups. war planes have bombed suspected malitia positions and people supporting the rent grade general forces dismantled checkpoints with fighters set up with al--shareer and libya under control of two governments and groups engaged in daily fi

>> north korea had a rupture of relations with south korea. they have to build ties because they need an alternate source of support. i think it was more to do with politics of one sort or another. it was an unusual trip. if you have a series of unusual occurrences, that's the narrative we have of kim jong un, quickly consolidating control. that can't be true. fascinating. hopefully we'll have answers in the next few days. before we go, you are an expert in china. we'll talk about what is going on in hong kong. it looks like the processes fizzled out. or mostly fizzled out. >> there's a couple of hundred people in the center of the city. there's a couple of things that work. one is exhaustion. some of the kids have been on the streets for 12 days, many for a week. there's a strategic retreat on the part of the student. they are talking to the hong kong government, and china. there's a sense that the students should lay low while the talks continue. people do not want to see big demonstrations. it's a strategic clever move on the part of studen

(laughter) but the leadership of north korea outside the military leadership went to south korea for the closing ceremonies of the asia-pacific games last week, and not only were extremely solicitous of wanting to engage with the south koreans but set a date to get the countries to start negotiations. now, i have to say, in any condition, if kim jong-un is out, the worst thing that could happen is lots of internal fighting and maybe the place implodes. you couldn't do that south korean mission in that case. the first case, the military leaders wouldn't leave the country. the worst thing to do is leave the country when that happens. so i'd say either kim jong-un is out and the transition is handled and solid, which is good, or he's still in, actually is experiencing some mild heartburn, and he wants to show everyone he's still in charge so he's continuing and making a bold move. but either way -- >> charlie: what's the bold move? >> sending this big delegation to south korea. that's the biggest opening we've seen between the countries in years, at the same time he hasn't been heard fr