we have paula hancocks live in seoul with reunifications happening. ng, paula. >> reporter: good morning, dave. we are seeing some very emotional images coming from north korea as these families are meeting their family members for the first time in decades. 89 families were picked from 57,000 who wanted to be part of this showing this is just a drop in the ocean. a fraction of those who want to be reunited with family members. you can see the emotional images as families are getting together once again. now most of them in their 80s or 90s. it is a sense it is a race against time to bring as many p families together as possible. -- many families together as possible. many were torn apart in the '50s with the korean war. many did not know if their loved ones were still alive. this is a wonderful moment. it is bittersweet. it is only for three days. it is highly choreographed with certain hours of the day they are allowed to meet. 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. that has now finished. they separate and have a meal from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. they get on the bus and c

cnn international correspondent paula hancocks has their story. >> reporter: lee is 92 and obliviousenter and has an outfit to buy for a very special occasion. on monday, lee will meet her son for the first time in 68 years. lee and her husband were among many north koreans who fled south as the korean war took hold in 1950 and recalls walking for days carry her 1-year-old daughter and her husband carrying her son and left the road to breastfeed her baby and slipped and sprung her ankle and when she returned she couldn't find her husband. [ speaking in foreign language ] >> reporter: as the fighting caught up with them, lee had to take a train and a ship and wait in south korea for her husband and son to catch up. they never did. [ speaking in foreign language ] >> reporter: lee is one of screenance who will be reunited with people they haven't seen in decades. this happened when the only two koreas was good and the last one three years ago. it was a high-controlled three days in north korea. [ speaking in foreign language ] >> reporter: chung is still waiting and one of thousands wh

cnn's paula hancocks joining us live from osan air base in south korea. paula, good morning. >> reporter: hello, dave. well, that repatriation ceremony is currently under way. the commander in chief saying words at the beginning, saying how important it is that all service members are brought home from combat zones around the world, and that is what today is about. now, there are 55 caskets in that hangar at osan air base as well during that repatriation ceremony. they will be brought here to be loaded onto the c-17 planes, taken to hawaii then for formal identification where vice president mike pence will be receiving them as they touch down for the first time on u.s. soil. since the korean war, some 65 years ago. now, we have been hearing some details from officials. they say that after the initial investigation, a couple of days, they believe these men, these service members were from the korean war. they believe many of them were american. one dog tag was found amongst those remains. that family has been identified. so, for at least one family, there i

now, paula hancocks has the details for us. paula, very emotional.hat can you tell us about them? >> these are always incredibly emotional times, these family reunions. it's been 65 years since the korean were was ended. they're in their 70s and 80s. it's going to be an emotional time for them. many have been waiting decades have to coordination or anybody in to have north and south, it does occasionally happen. from the side korean, there was some 57,000 applicants that were zred. they had to look into who was healthy still. who was able to climb to north korea? they asked the north koreans to find out if their families are extra make it themselves. >> it will be 9 93 reunions, there will be 66 in north korea. it is still a strr small presentage of those families who actually want to be reayatollahed. there's a push from the south korean side to have as many of these reunions was possible. he was traveling to meet his mother for the first time. it is a source of great pain for court cree, and also, the fachllies that have been separated so long. the

following the story, paula hancocks is live in seoul, south korea. ula, the president keeping a crack in the door here, but it does put new pressure on the upcoming meeting between north and south korea. >> reporter: well, that's right, george. and the secretary of state mike pompeo did speak to the south korean foreign minister earlier this saturday. and the foreign secretary here said that it was regretability, that was t that was the word she used, saying it was a highly anticipated meeting for pompeo to go to north korea. but from the u.s. point of view, they feel that simply not enough has been achieved to make this trip worthwhile. we know pompeo went just last month to north korea. he did not meet kim jung-un. it was seen by many observers as a snub and sources afterwards said that that meeting went really as badly as it could have gone. and we're hearing many reports most notably, most recently from the iaea, saying that there are areas of grave concern looking at the activities that are ongoing at certain nuclear sites in north korea. so i th

cnn's paula hancocks is following this story from seoul in south korea. so paula, bring us up-to-date, all the information you have on this summit now expected in september. >> reporter: well, rosemary, this has just been decided at a meeting between north and south korea, the equivalent in the north as well. and this was at the dmz at that truce village where a number of meetings between the north and south have been carried out in recent months. so what they have decided is they will have this korean summit within september in pyeongyang. there isn't an exact date at this point. this isn't something we were expecting. it's what we heard after the first inter-korean summit. president moon jae-in said he would go in the autumn, in the fall, and clearly this would be when they would meet. it's been the first time a south korean leader has gone to pyeongyang in a decade, since we've seen a number over the past few months at the same time that north korea is criticizing washington and the united states for what it believes is washington keeping its end of the

cnn's paula hancocks joins us live from osan air base in south korea. ula, i know you've been there for several hours. bring us up to speed. >> reporter: well, laura, right now, the caskets are being loaded onto the c-17 planes, which will then take the remains from the korean war to hawaii for identification. six by six, these caskets are being put on to the c-17s, and there are 55 in all. officials tell us that from their initial observations and from past experience, that could well represent the remains of far more than 55 service members. now, we have been hearing from those officials who have just had a couple of days to start the investigation process, forensic experts coming over here to osan air base. they say that some of these remains are likely american. they say they do believe that they are likely from the korean war as well. so, certainly, what north korea has told the united states, at this point they say there is no reason to disbelieve that, and they will have to, obviously, take months, potentially even years now to try and identify ex

paula hancocks, cnn, seoul. >>> u.s. secretary of state mike pompeo is at the afterivion mee. cnn ivan watson is there too, reporting for us. tell us about the reaction once it was learned about this new report? >> reporter: well, you know, mike pompeo the secretary of state, he spoke to journalists in the morning here in singapore before cnn learned about this confidential u.n. report. so he did not directly address that with reporters. he may do that in the hours to come. but in his comments, he did allude to some of the issues and, in fact, some pretty details in the report that he seemed to be alluding to. for example, the ship-to-ship transfer of petroleum, that's something that he's singled out. he said he raised with that southeast asian nations here, saying they've got to he ep with trying to make sure that a united nations security counsel resolution is blocking this, that they are enforced. so programs he knew about some of the details of this united nations report he had interesting messages coming here to singapore less than two months after president trump had his

let's bring in paula hancocks who is in seoul. first of all, tell us more about who issued this report and what more is in it. >> reporter: this is as you say a confidential u.n. report made up of independent experts. and i have six monevery six mony give their findings. and this particular report is fairly damning. they believe the north korean government is evading sanctions by elicit ship to ship transfers at sea. so they say that they are transferring petroleum products, crude oil, also trying to get around the ban on being able to export coal, the stronger sanctions came in at the u.n. security council in march of last year. so these findings suggest that they are trying to flight the word the report uses the caps and limits on the amount of petroleum that they are allowed to import. one u.n. member says they believe they have already procured more than 500,000 barrels of refineded petroleum products between january and may. so certainly quite security floo flighting if it does turn out to are accurate. we've seen evidence of

paula hancocks, cnn, seoul. >> we'll take a very short break here. it is a curtain call for one of america's most beloved playwrights. we look back at the life and work of neil simon. are you a christian author with a book that you're ready to share with the world? get published now, call for your free publisher kit today! >>> one of america's most successful playwrights has died. we're talking about the tony award winner neil simon. he was 91 years old. >> the playwright and screenwriter will long be remembered for his popular comedies including "the odd couple," "barefoot in the park" and "the sunshine boys." cnn's sara sidner has more on simon's memorable contributions to the stage. >> reporter: it didn't really matter who the stars were. if neil simon wrote it, people wanted to see it. "time" magazine wants once called him the patron saint of laughter. a native new yorker, simon learned his craft in the early days of television, writing for comedian sid caesar. >> we didn't know how to write. we would just string old jokes together until we learn

paula hancocks live for us in seoul, south korea. thank you for the report. >>> cnn has obtained cellphone footage showing the final moments of a group of schoolboys in yemen before many of them were killed in an air strike by the u.s. backed saudi led coalition. it was filmed by one of the students. it shows the classmates jostling and yelling during roll call on the bus and playing chase with friends. >> this trip was reward for the religious school's graduating summer class. their teacher told cnn the boys had been sleepless with excitement for days, but less than an hour after the video ends osoma and many of his friends, children, they were killed. some of the scenes in this report, they're graphic, they're distressing but they reflect the reality of what's happening. take a look. >> reporter: they're taking roll call. they probably needn't bother. this is day we're told the students had been excitingly awaiting for weeks. the little boy filming swings the camera around to capture all his friends. they're due to graduate today a

our paula hancocks is following this story. so paula, happening this hour, emotionally charged meetings because for most of these elderly family members it is the last time they'll ever see their loved ones. talk to us about what is happening right now and how this whole process of reuniting these relatives, how it works. >> reporter: well, rosemary, according to the reunification ministery, the reunion started at 3:00 p.m. so that's an hour ago local time. so these families, 89 south korean families, have been meeting with their family members from north korea that they haven't seen for decades, since the korean war. in fact, many of them say that for so many years they never even knew if their loved ones were still alive. but they are the lucky ones. they are part of these fearly rare reunions that happen when north and south korea are cooperating, when relations between the two koreas are strong. and certainly they are the lucky ones because it is a fraction of those who want to meet family members in north korea that actuall

our paula hancocks is following this story. paula, this day and more specifically the next hour will be very important for these lucky few to see their relatives. >> reporter: that's right, george. if they are on schedule at this point, then the families will be sitting down at this moment with family members, as you said, they have not seen for decades. they are in north korea. they drove up early this morning. 89 families from south korea. and they will spend the next three days with family members that many of them they say they don't know if they will recognize. they in some cases haven't even met them before if they're meeting nieces and nephews. it will really be an incredible emotional time for these families. it's a fairly organized choreographed event. there are certain hours of each day they will be able to silt down with their loved ones and catch up on 65, almost 70 years of what has happened to them. it really is a very emotional time for them. there are many of these participants clearly are very elderly. the vast

paula hancock shows us where buss are waiting to reunite the families.anticipation, i know you spoke with a woman who hasn't seen the 4-year-old son she left behind while fleeing the war. what an incredible story. >> anna, this is an incredibly emotional time for these families. just a matter of minutes ago the buses, 14 buses left here south of the border with north korea. they'll drive four or five hours and get to north korea and finally see family members they didn't know were still alive in some cases but in all cases this he haven't seen for decades. this woman is 92 years old. oblivious to the crowds in this shop center. she has a very special occasion. on monday, lee will meet her son for the first time in 68 years. lee and her husband were among many north korean who's fled the korean war and took hold in 1950. she recalls walking for days carrying her 1-year-old daughter and her husband carrying her son. she left the road to breast-feed the baby, slipped and sprained her ankle. when she returned, she couldn't find her husband. >> reporter: as t

george. >> paula hancocks following the story live in south korea.t another clergy abuse scandal rocks the united states, the drum beat for accountability, it is getting louder. and the one man who could make that happen, who could call for that accountability, the man you see right there, pope francis. in the next 30 minutes he's set to deliver his sunday prayer. he's been under increasing pressure to address the newest allegations in a pennsylvania grand jury report that details decades of sexual abuse by priests and coverups by bishops. the vatican has called the accusations, quote, criminal and morally reprehensible. following this story live from rome, cnn contributor barbie is here with a closer look. barbie, the pope has spoken out about the genoa bridge collapse, he's been vocal there speaking about the lives lost. the question now, will he speak about this? >> reporter: well, george, it's hard to say. we don't have any expectation that he's going to offer up the victims of sexual abuse. we expect him to address the bridge collapse again when

paula hancock. cnn. >> tough. >> world news with david muir is next. >>> tonight, several developing stories as we come on the air. president trump and the robert mueller investigation. tonight, what we've learned about the president's white house lawyer, don mcgahn, who has cooperated extensively with the special counsel. mueller's team conducting hours of interviews with him, the most of any white house witness. what did mcgahn witness inside the white house before james comey was fired, when the president was raging against a.g. jeff sessions for recusing himself? >>> also tonight, late developments in the trial of paul manafort. the jury asking to extend their day. what this could mean. we'll go live to the courthouse. >>> the severe weather threat as we come on tonight. at least five reported tornadoes already. new alerts across the heartland, tonight, headed east next, from d.c. up the coast. >>

paula hancocks us law than emotionally challenged. what were you were learning about the imminent ill lesions. it's been 65 years since the end of the korean war. in of these families have herrod nothing, since then. in rare cases, they have been able to communicate. if the reasons start off, on august 27th people who were under situation by the south korean authorities. they lottery healthy to be able to pravl, as well, as they had to go to the ruflt. and they have had to go to the north korean and make the travel. at the end of that, there's just 93 people from south korea will who will be meeting the north korean relatives. and then, there will be a second round of reunions, and 88 members of north korea will be enter spiels of south korea. chances of being micked for this are similar. >> you talk about those numbers, 15 l 5. that is devastating. >> haula, bringing us if latest from soul or many norhottest by. >> the. >>> the heat is sparking fire fires, covering of ian, walk to us ant how the relationship is dealing with them. >>

we have paula hancocks standing by live for us in seoul. >> reporter: christine, we know the summit with moon jae-in and kim jong-un will be held in september. we heard from the north korean side. a meeting today to discuss this. they have set a date, but have not publicized the date. the south korean side, blue house saying, we cannot imagine it would be too early on in september. that could be difficult. certainly this is an interesting development. it is something the south korean president said after he first met kim jong-un in april. he would be the third south korean president to visit the north korean capital. it would be the third meeting between the two men. this is the time when the relations appear between to be strengthening just as the u.s. and north korea relations are worsening. slamming washington for what it sees as unfair behavior saying that north korea has been making concessions and they would like some of the sanctions to be lifted. washington has consistently said they want denuclearization first and talk about sanctions. many officials, including secretary of stat

cnn's paula hancocks has the details. >> reporter: well, christi, that trip for u.s.rth korea is off for next week, the u.s. president saying there's simply not sufficient progress being made in steps towards denuclearization. now, from a south korean point of view, there is disappointment here. the foreign minister had a phone call with the secretary of state on saturday morning, and she said that it was regrettable that such a highly anticipated meeting was not going ahead. and of course, it puts the south koreans in a slightly more difficult situation as the president, moon jae-in, is going to pyongyang next month, meeting in another summit with king jeong-eun. and certainly, what he wants to see is this dual-track approach that at the same time the north and south koreans are getting closer, the u.s. and north korea are getting closer as well. but interestingly, from the u.s. president, we also saw somewhat of a good cop-bad cop within the same tweet, at the same time as saying not enough progress is being made, he also said he sent his warmest regards and respect