the north koreans are claim being that the south korean military opened first and they were only responding after giving repeated warnings. but south korea holding emergency meetings called it a clear armed provocation by north korea. the shelling of civilian targets unpardon believe and warned of stern retaliation against further provocation. south koreans gathered around televisions to watch the unfolding coverage. anxiety was evident. >> i feel like i might be called up as a reserve soldier this student says. i can feel war might break out seriously. i'm really scared. this priest says he thinks it is the most threatening cease-fire since the sees fire. >> north korean television reported a military communique' warning the north korean armed forces would continue taking merciless military action as what it described as provocation from the south. all this does follow a build-up of tension this year. a south korean warship was sunk near the sea border leading to the death of 46 sailors. south korea blamed it on a new yorken torpedo. then revelations north korea a's to have taken further s

north korea firing 200 shells at south korean island killing two marines. seoul describes it as a violation of the 1953 armistice. a statement says the south fired first. the u.s. strongly condemned the north korea be attack urging pyongyang it hold its belligerent action. china and russia expressed concern and the japanese prime minister called on his government to prepare for any eventuality. neighbors have expressed concern japan reported to be preparing for any eventuality. china and north korea staunch ally urging talks with the north. live to beijing. how is this being viewed where you are, martin? >> well, you are right in pointing out that beijing has called for calm. that came from a fortune ministry spokesman who spoke as this incident was ongoing. we are yet to have any more official comment from beijing but you are right in pointing out during the news conference china said the six-party talks, the talks designed to end the north korean nuclear weapons program, those talks should restart. however, the u.s. representative who is in the region said

or the north koreans? >> that is correct. that is correct. >> no, i'm referring to the south koreans, because there are two ways you can go wrong with the south koreans. one is to stand thousands of miles away and suggest there needs to be a much firmer response than they're making. and the second is to somehow, you know, advocate that they do less. >> lehrer: do you agree with mr. sigh gel that the only danger here, potential danger, immediate danger, is that the north korea... if the south korean exercise with the u.s. gets too close to south korea... i mean to north korea, they could react and this thing could have another tit for tat. is that possible? >> i agree. yeah, i agree. i think one has to be care informal these exercises. you don't want them to be needlessly provocative. but at the same time, the north koreans are pretty use to us having exercises and i think the worst thing we could do is not have an exercise and suggest that we're somehow intimidated by what is really... has really become a pattern of even more

korean peninsula. we will be right back. >> it is wednesday, november 24, here in korea. north korea attack the south korean island night -- island near the disputed western sea border to the afternoon, killing two south korean marines and injuring at least 18 others, including others. the attack, unprecedented and scale since the korean war ended in 1953, caused extensive damage, setting residential areas on fire. soon afterward, south korea returned fire and deployed fighter jets. for the latest on this, let us go to our reporter who joins us on the phone from the defense ministry. what has been happening since the attack? >> south korean defense minister and u.s. defense secretary robert gates held talks on north korean firing of artillery shells and upgraded to coordinate and a response to no. 3 opossum latest provocation. the two defense chiefs agree the north korean artillery assaults were a violation of the armistice agreement that ended the korean war. they said it was intentional. the secretary gave about to fully support south korea and always possible, saying the u.s

after the north korean nuclear test. but when there are attacks like this, they tend to be much more cautious and what they say privately is that they need to keep their lines of communication open to the north koreans so they can retain some influence on this new generation that didn't grow up understanding how to deal with the chinese. well, that's fine, but so far all of the chinese efforts to bring about restraint don't seem to have accomplished very much. >> rose: david, always good to have you, especially on short notice on a breaking story. thank you. >> great to be with you, charlie. >> rose: david sanger of the "new york times." back in a moment. steve martin. stay with us. >> rose: steve martin is her the legendary actor and comedian is an avid writer. he's written plays, children's books, magazine pieces, a memoir and novella. now his first book "an object of beauty" is the story of an art dealer. in addition to his writing and film work, martin tours the country as a professional banjo player. his debut album

president said the north koreans will face repercussions. we have more. >> just something new. >> reporter: korean immigrants say the only thing they can do is monitor the latest headlines and hope for the best. this oakland accountant was born in north korea. he has a half century he hasn't seen in over a half a century. >> a flashback what went through when i was ten. >> reporter: lee is hoping for more diplomacy and military

and south korean presidents agree to stand shoulder to shoulder after the crisis sparked by north korea's artillery attack on south korean territory. >> we strongly affirm our commitment to defend south korea as part of that alliance. >> taking on the taliban. escalating violence in afghanistan. a second robot is dispatched to the new zealand coal mine where 29 men are trapped as high levels of gas are detected. welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers on pbs in america and around the globe. coming up later on for you, a note for your social diary. britain's newest royal couple choose april 29 at westminster abbey for their wedding. and the royal shakespeare theater gets a facelift, but is it as you like it or much ado about nothing. president obama and his south korean counterpart have agreed to hold combined military exercises in the coming days in response to tuesday's north korean artillery attack on south korean territory. president obama says the united states stands shoulder to shoulder with its allies. north korea is accused of firing dozens of artillery shells on an island ne

what's going on is kim jung-il trying to bring the north korean military closer to him. act and make it appear as though this is futile, but also counterproductive. just ignoring north korea -- which is what the obama administration is doing now essentially and what has been its policy essentially since the beginning of its administration -- is not sufficient or wise from a security point of view. jon: one of the fears, obviously, is that if you get too tough on north korea, if you bring in, you know, a carrier group or something like that you might agitate the chinese. would they really be all that upset if we were to respond in that way? >> they might. frankly, agitating the chinese is what we should be doing. it was unfortunate over the weekend to see chairman of the joint chiefs of staff mullen argue or at least say we're going to be working this issue through beijing. china will pay lip service to helping us in north korea but does virtually nothing. it's north korea's biggest trading partner, so if you predicate policy on chinese cooperation, your policy is going to

china's position at the moment as it does not want the north korean regime it to collapse the way to duce current tensions is by negotiating and they called for an emergency meeting of the six party talks. these are the talks designed to end north korea's nuclear weapons program, and beijing has called for an emergency meeting of all of those partners. >> bbc's martin patience. chris is in seoul. the leaks show the limits of chinese patients. >> when you go through these tables, they show that a lot of people are operating here, not just the south koreans and the chinese but the americans as well. a lot of it is educated guesses about what is really going on inside the north korean regime. there were few facts. that concerns -- they often called the black hole of asia, because it is just so difficult, even for diplomats at the highest level to have a clear idea of exactly of what is going on in that country. >> we are getting some other news from north korea that north korea says it has thousands of nuclear centrifuges operating as a previously undetected uranium enrichment facility.

i think it is very significant for north koreans to mention the importance of returning to october of 2009 joint communique between the united states and sell -- north korea because it was a comprehensive resolution. bob, i have a question for you. you talked about the need for us to accept north korea as it is. what do you sense of the washington, d.c., about whether americans are ready to accept the need to take care of north korea's sense of insecurity to south korea? >> i am not a washington analyst. it is much easier to analyze north korea than it is washington. [laughter] of i can say is that i hope people recognize now that the policies they have been following could stand some revaluation, that a development like this and suggest that at the very least we need major refinement and maybe we even need to go back to basics. are they ready? i honestly do not know. i am sorry. because ine comment, put the words up there that we should deal with that it is rather than as we would like it to be. people wonder does that mean we should accept that they have nuclear weapons? as i put on

region, notay china, which is one of north korea's few allies. >> we hope that the relevant parties will contribute their share to peace and stability on the koreaninsula. >> for its part, north korea has accused the south of provoking the attack. in any case, this latest border incident leaves relations between the two koreas that a new low point. >> for some analysis, we're joined in the studio by my colleague, an expert on the situation on the korean peninsula. you have just been to south korea and have been there a number of times. what can you tell us about this island that was the scene of the artillery exchange? >> i was on a similar island of the south korean coast filming. it is normally idyllic and beautiful landscape. but in this case, the island of yeonpyeong has been the center point of tension already for a long time between north and south korea. there have been a number of serious incidents on that island. in 2000 two, two military vessels were opening fire on each other, leaving more than 20 soldiers killed in that last really serious incident. i mentioned people who live there, they already live with a strong military presence.

mike chinoy, author of "meltdown inside story of the north korean new crisis" thanks for being with usng. >> i think you've made something like 14 trips to north korea. a are you surprised to hear about the discov kri? >> i'm not altogether surprised because what we've seen with the north korean uranium enrichment facility is the result of what happens when the u.s. doesn't talk to north korea. this facility evidently got under way about 18 months ago and during the past year and a half the north koreans have consistently been sending signals that they want to reengage with the united states, that they'd like bilateral contact, they might be willing to come back to six-party negotiations in guy bey jing but the obama administration, for a variety of reasons, has been unwilling to talk with the north koreans, partly because of the north koreans' sinking of a south korean ship and south korea's unwillingness to engage. the north koreans have said if you don't talk to us, this is what you get and that's what we've got now a situation where the north in the absence of diplomatic movement i

into what's now north korean territory. all ways of quieting chinese objections. now, this may be a fantasy. i mean, we have no indication right now that north korea's on the brink of collapse. and as you know better than most as a historian of american presidents, every american president since harry truman has been counting on the north koreans collapsing on his watch and the north koreans haven't cooperated. >> meacham: what's your sense of how this plays given the already tense relations with north korea over the past couple of weeks? >> a little bit difficult to tell. it's hardly news to the north koreans that the south would step in if the north finally falls apart. i mean nobody really understands right now what has kept north korea as a working state given the starvation, the gulags, the dictatorships, and the complete economic chaos. on the other hand, i'm sure they don't like reading this kind of thing. the other thing that we discovered from the cables was that the chinese have a pretty vivid conversation under with the united states about their own asse

we do know it's an accelerated process because the north korean leader is quite ill. and in north korea when you have a new leader, it's only their third leader, you have to build a myth and an ideology around this leader based on the strength of the state. in that sense, i think a lot of these provocations and in particular the last one could be seen not as tit for tat for south korean exercises or a negotiating ploy it's part of establishing the new mythology around this young, potential leader for the country. >> lehrer: how do you see that as a possible motive here? >> north korea does have a great incentive to build up the hare apparent, the 26-year-old who has no credentials. he was appointed four star general, yes, recently, but he has no achievements under his belt. so north korea faces a great challenge of power succession. an inherently physical task especially for a regime beset by severe economic stresses so north korea does have a need to build him up, yes. in the days and weeks and months leading up to his birthday which is january 8 in north korea the bi

they have more of a commitment to north korean human rights and freedom. >> he suggested that defectors should be supported and used to help improve the human rights situation in north korea. >>> the executive director of the world food program has indicated that people in north korea are still facing serious food shortages. josette sheeran is the first wfp chief to visit north korea in five years. during her three-day stay from tuesday through thursday, she met with the country's number two leader and senior officials of the agriculture ministry. sheeran inspected facilities such as a food processing plant run by the u.n. agency and an orphanage. she left pyongyang for beijing on thursday. >> i saw many children that already are losing the battle against malnutrition, and their bodies and minds are stunted. >> the u.n. agency launched a fresh one-year food assistance program in july for 2.5 million people in north korea, mainly women and children. sheeran expressed apprehension about the slow financial backing, saying only 19% of about $95 million needed has so far been donated by coun

>> that north koreans don't do anything new. the south koreans don't retaliate. to be clear, i'm not saying south koreans should retaliate. -- should not retaliate. i think there's a case for them to do something discrete, not unlimited, but discrete to send them the message that they cannot use military force with impunity. they don't want this to escalate. though have a lot to lose as to china. indeed, there will be no winners if this escalates. >> this is all been watching very closely. we're in a korea town neighborhood of los angeles tonight, miguel, good evening. >> brian, good evening. koreatown here in los angeles is home to the largest korean community anywhere in the country. some 200,000 korean-americans live here alone. news of the conflict spread quickly through this area as many have close ties, family and friends, who live in both south and north korea. today's news was shared in coffee shops and at corner markets in this tight knit community, many getting their information not just from the media but from phone calls back home. after the korean co

korean government says to soldiers and two civilians died. dozens more were wounded. here's where a happened and island 8 mi. north from the korean coast. >> the attack touched off violent demonstrations in south korea capital. the government calls it a clear military provocation and but it's air, land and sea forces on high alert. the north koreans blame themselves for starting a battle and said the country has been pushed to the brink of war. this latest violence comes days after the stanford university scientist was given an unprecedented tour of north korea's nuclear enrichment facility. >> my jaw dropped i was stunned. to see what look like hundreds and hundreds of it was stunning. looking back i say oh my gosh they actually did what they said but they were going to do. >> but there is no sign of further mobilization by the north korean army. the officially media showed him touring as soy sauce factory with his young son. the american aircraft carrier will join the south korean navy in military exercises in the embassy and that will happen less than 100 mi. from north korean capital. >> a look at our extended

the north koreans sank that south korean ship, killing south korean sailors, there's a de

attack and that the north will face consequences for future aggression. south koreans took shelter after shelling could be heard. this comes four days after north korea killed four south koreans. u.s. senator john mccain says it's time to talk about regime change. >> i think if past behavior holds true, the north koreans will walk up to the edge and step back and try to get more concessions and more money and more economic aid and more jobs for north koreans sponsored by south korea. i'm not sure that the south koreans will go along this time. >> meanwhile as tensions are high, the u.s. and south korea are participating in exercises off the peninsula. a u.s. super car i don't remember and destroyer took up a position in the yellow sea. >>> the teenager suspected of plotting a terror attack in portland is due in court tomorrow. he allegedly planned to blow up a van full of explosives at a crowded christmas tree ceremony friday. the fbi secretly was working with the somali born suspect for months. documents reveal he told undercover agents the portland square was the per

the north koreans sank that south korean ship, killing south korean sailors, there's a de militarized zone between the two countries, however, nothing like this has happened in terms of artillery fire. bill: the white house called it an act of belligerence. what is the reaction at the pentagon? >> admiral mullen, chairman of the joint chiefs was awoegen by aides when this started, he informed secretary gates and we're told that president obama was awoken at 3:55 a.m. in the morning here by his security individualsor, tom donilon. it's being taken very seriously. a senior defense official says nobody wants the situation to escalate but they're keeping a very close eye on the situation, the white house calling for a halt to the belligerence by the north koreans, all of this comes a few days after the north north koreans revealed it has a second track to producing nuclear weapons, bill. bill: we have thousands of u.s. forces stationed in south korea, it's been that way for 50 some odd years. any u.s. troops involved in this, jennifer? >> no. of course, there are 30,000 u.s. troops on the

he says north korean leader kim jong-il and his son and likely successor, kim jong-un, are influenced the military. the south koreans must risk an escalation of hostilities and respond more forcefully, he says. >> ( translated ): the south korean president was hesitant and it makes people anxious. it doesn't make any sense, they're letting north korean get away with it again. >> reporter: temporary shrines have been set-up honoring the south korean servicemen who lost their lives on the island, and many worry there could be more when the military holds joint exercises with the americans in two days time. >> sreenivasan: a pentagon spokesman today defended the upcoming exercises against criticism from china, saying they are aimed at deterring north korea. the portuguese parliament approved its budget for next year with a host of tough spending cuts. portugal is trying to avoid a bailout from the european union, like the ones greece and ireland have already accepted.ç portugal's deficit reached 9.3% last year, the fourth highest oç the eurozone nations. after today's vote, prime minist

did not son and north koreans retaliated. >> it houses marines and civilians, mostly fishermen. it comes after three scientists returned from north korea saying north korea's nuclear program was far more advanced. >> it alarmed me and the reason it alarmed me because it was such a surprise and it showed me that the policy that we've been following seems to be at a dead-end. >> they speculated that the north korea's nuclear designs were to provoke south korea. >> they want to coerce the united states and the world into negotiating and into giving the north koreans things that they want, including food and fuel and recognition by the outside world. >> as president obama headed to indiana, bill burton called the attack outrageous and provocative. >>> yet another disappointment in the natalee holloway murder investigation. aruba a bone recently found on a beach did not belong to the alabama teenager. they say the jawbone is human but unclear whom it belongs to. she was last seen leaving the bar with joran van der sloot who is was the prime suspect in her disappeara

did not son and north koreans retaliated. >> it houses marines and civilians,tly fishermen. it comes after three scientists returned from rth korea saying north korea's nuclear program was far more advanced. >> it alarmed me and the reason it alarmed me because it was such a surprise and it showed me that the policy that we've been following seems to be at a dead-end. >> they speculated at the north korea's nuear designs were to provoke sout korea. >> ty want to coerce the united states and the world into negotiing and into giving the north koreans things that they want, including food and fuel and recnition by the outside world. >> as president obama headed to indiana, bill burton called the attack outrageous and provocative. >>> yet another disappointment in the nalee holloway murder investigation. aruba a bone rently found on a beach did not belong to the alabama teager. they say the jawbone is hum but unclear whom itelongs to. she was las seen leaving the bar witjoran van der sloot who is was the prime suspect in her disappearance. >> all the rain people ha

>> i spend about seven years interviewing north koreans, not in north korea but in south korea are not the chinese border. i have been to north korea quite a few times, but you can't speak to anybody in north korea. you can't even make on contact with them to say this is the most repressive regime in the world. you know, actually we can use superlatives when you work in north korea you have reminder to make sure you don't talk to anybody but i found north koreans to actually be quite talkative when the good of the country and i painstakingly pieced together on their stories, which in my mind were 1984 come true. >> the north koreans you spoke with, did they escapes from north korea, with a visiting south korea? >> everybody had to seascape. north koreans basically live in a large prison. they are not allowed out of their country unless the darfuri elite. these are people who largely when they were starving to death across the rivers that border china and try to make new lives for themselves and the funny thing is when they were in north korea also they were starving the had been said t

americans are ready to accept that kind of -- to take care of north korean's sense of insecurity to solvessue? >> you know i am not a washington analyst. i am here to analyze -- it is much easier to analyze north korea than washington. i hope that people now recognize that as it -- there is a policy that they have been following and it could stand some re- evaluation, that a development like this suggests that we need major refinement, and maybe we need to go back to basics. are they ready? i honestly don't know. sorry. >> chris nelson. >> just one comment. because i put the words of their. -- up there. deal with it as it is, rather than what we would like to be. people would say as it is, but that would mean accept them having nuclear weapons. they have accepted the 19th agreement under the right circumstances. visual, youmuy start with the fact that there will be denuclearization. they have had the bomb for seven years, and even though we have said they cannot have the bomb up, but they have had a bomb. the issue is you clearly have to start that the end goal is the denuclearization. >>

not just north and south troops trained their weapons on each other, but tens of thousands of american troops are on the south korean side. unresolved territorial disputes are already pretext for flareups. there have been clashes between north and south korea for years, but in recent months, there has been rising tension. in march, a south korean warships sank, killing several sailors. a panel will that it was signed by north korean torpedos, but they denied it. last month, fire was exchanged across the land border, and last week, north korea proudly revealed a new nuclear facility to enrich uranium. >> today in washington, that scientists said it was time for the united states to reevaluate its north korea policy. >> the most important thing is to try to cap the nuclear program, and what i indicated i would like to see is no more bombs, no better bombs, which means no testing, and no export. >> paradoxically, saber rattling by north korea could just be to strengthen its hand with an eye to diplomacy, but second- guessing this regime is always difficult. >> much more, of course, on our website about that crisis in k

they're all in range of north korean artillery.ight now you have a country sort of being run by a man who is in his 60s and has already suffered a stroke. now it's going to be turned over to a man who is in his 20s, about whom we know almost nothing. >> couric: kim jong un will inherit a country in tatters. starvation is chronic, killing as many as two million people since 1990. a third of the country's 23 million are undernourished. >> given the succession that is unfolding before our eyes in pyongyang, i think what we're seeing are opportunities arise, potentially, to not only explore diplomacy with new figures in the regime, but also to see if there are new actors with whom we could deal. >> couric: but it's a giant neighbor that could have the final say. >> mao zse dong once said china and north korea were as close as lips and teeth. >> couric: for now, china supports the kim regime's grip on power. >> first there is the threat of hundreds of thousands starving north korea refugees flooding into china. second a new unified kore

hosting a high level north korean official in beijing next week so that all kinds of comings and goings like that at the same time trying is calling for emergency talks emergency six party talks among the envoys who were engaged in the nuclear negotiations so i would say that you know there's every possibility that this situation may be stabilized without further incidents but on the other hand as you point out there's also the danger of a wider conflict or at least the danger of more incidents and more tension and all of that is possible for that matter one scenario not to be overlooked is the possible collapse of the north korean regime which exists on chinese life support you know they have a leadership question going on there kim jong il the leader is ailing he's got his youngest son still in his late twenty's to ready to take over except the youngest son is not really ready some people say that these episodes of late were really spurred on by him in order to show his power and show is this is nerve for the benefit of a bunch of aging generals now if i may just jump in here for a mo

there is no question in my mind that the north koreans can do that and could have done it at any time in the past. however, the hexafluoride that the libyans bought the pakastani claim they got from north korea. i think there is a good likelihood of that. i asked them, first of all, where did you make the tetrafluoride, because the building where the is to make the tetrafluoride, before 1994, had corroded so badly that the interior collapsed and they abandoned it. however, they found a work around by changing the technique to one that is less corrosive. they said that is what they did. how did you go to hexafluoride? yes, we did that here in pyongyang. i will just briefly mentioned that there are facilities you can see from bugler -- google earth, and some of those may be associated with having that capability. so yes, hyundai claimed to have reestablished -- so yes, they claim to have reestablished uranium hexafluoride. >> last question. >> [unintelligible] how do see the development of the infrastructure for the material supply? >> for the hall light water reactor? >> and also for e

the north koreans continue to build nuclear weapons. you have the worst national security and worst economy and the bigger gap between the president and the country than bill clinton had. that's why i think -- the president can recover. nobody should underestimate him. as a partner and an institution of enormous party. he has a harder job tha president clinton. host: as a way to kind of show case its tecology or a ploy to try to put in negotiating issue on the table? guest: the north korean dictatorship is a strange regime. their nuclear weapons and rockets. it's a terrible disaster at the human level and economically. it's a pathetically weak country. except for the nuclear weapons. i think they would like to get more money out ofwest. that's their way of saying, you better pay attention to us. host: karl rove said it's been a rocky month. republicans should sober up. always difficult to beat a president. guest: when ipoke to t senators. we have to move to complacent conservative. in 1980's, with carter, 1994 with mondale. and in the e

it was the first attack by the north on an inhabited area of south korea since the 1953 armistice to halt the korean war. president lee myung-bak told top military leaders on tuesday that their country should resist the north with force. the south korean military and u.s. troops stationed in the country have raised the surveillance level on north korea to the second highest status, mobilizing satellites and reconnaissance planes. earlier on tuesday north korea fired dozens of shells at yeonpyeong island near the maritime border. two south korean soldiers were killed and 15 other servicemen were wounded. three residents were also injured. south korea's foreign minister, kim sung hwan, invited the ambassadors of japan, china, and russia to a briefing on the exchange of fire. kim stressed that the attack was a clear violation of the armistice. >>> u.n. envoys are continuing unofficial discussions on how to address the north's attack on south korea. some are hoping that the security council will take up the issue. japanese ambassador to the u.n.tsuneo nishida said on tuesday that japan strongly condemns

north core reanswer. and initially the south koreans had claimed there were heavy north korean casualty, but no way to prove that. the immediate reaction from the u.s. military quite frankly was to do nothing. to consult with the south koreans so what they were doing, but there was fear that if the u.s. would strike an aggressive posture, that would send the wrong signal to the north koreans at the time. that might be miss interpreted and according to u.s. military officials here, the last thing anybody wants as of today now particularly since the shooting has stopped issen escalate. >> only last march there was the north korean sinking of a south korean ship and no punishment. account sought coth koreans aff stand by and do nothing? >> reporter: it's a difficult political situation, but it really is considered militarily too high a price to pay for actions like this. the only course really that the south koreans have taken so far is to end some of their cooperative agreements, trade and aid with the north koreans, which apparently is only exacerbated or inflamed the situation to some extent. but, again, as

. >>> the south korean government has decided to suspend humanitarian dialogue and aid to north korea following tuesday's artillery attack by the country. the shelling of the south korean island of yeonpyeong in the yellow sea left two marines and two civilians dead. 18 people were injured, including three civilians. the casualties have led to calls from the public for a tough response, including military retaliation. >> translator: we have to show a firm attitude. we've been patient. >> translator: i don't want our country to stage a war. but north korea should be properly punished. >> the south korean government decided on wednesday to reject an inter-korean red cross meeting to arrange reunions of families divided since the korean war. the meeting was due to be held on thursday. the government also decided to suspend the delivery of 7,000 tons of cement to flood-stricken areas in north korea. south korean president lee myung-bak on wednesday talked with leaders of japan and other countries over the phone to seek their support. foreign affairs and trade minister kim sung hwan plans

the stanford university scientist was giving a tour of the facility by the north koreans. ort is igniting new anxiety. admiral mike mull lips, chairman of the joint chief of staff, said it appears that north korea is bent on destabilizing the religion. the taliban is rejecting the 24 teen security deadline set by nato. they say nato will not be able to establish a stable government in afghanistan by that time. this weekend nato leaders agreed to hand off security to afghan forces by the end of 24 teen. >>> one of the busiest travel days of the year could become more hectic. an internet boycott is unching g travelers to skip the pat down. it could mean a much longer wait at security lines at the airport. authorities are searching for a gunman who allegedly shot and critically wounded a utah park ranger. investigators say the suspect is likely wounded and traveling on foot. the victim, park ranger brody young, is currently in critical but stable condition. he's the father of three children. those are the top stories right now. back to you, shannon. >> julie, thank you very mu