he chairs a pro-pyongyang group called the general association of korean residents in japan.apanese authorities were looking into the illegal impart of matsutake mushrooms from north korea. officials called the raid an unprecedented infringement of sovereignty. they're demanding an official apology. the north koreans also said japan had violated an agreement to jointly resolve their country's abductions of japanese nationals. they condemn leaders in tokyo for involving other countries through the united nations. japanese leaders say they've done nothing wrong. >> translator: we have delivered on our promises. we absolutely cannot accept north korea's claims. >> japanese leaders say they'll keep pushing officials in pyongyang to report on their investigation into the fate of the abductees. they say north korean agents kidnapped at least 17 japanese nationals in the 1970s and '80s. 12 of those abductees are still unaccounted for. in japan, the issue has caused much heartbreak. the families of those abducted have urged the japanese government to work for the return of their love

presumably, you being based there in pyongyang. you see quite a few of the tourists coming through now. what are they expectations? their tree actions as the they watch this day of celebration. in pyongyang. >> well i think, the comment is, that everyone's perceptions and expectations are smashed immediately. they all have, very different idea. what it is like. you come here. people are warm, friendly. bombarded with facts. north korean side of the story. and we have been all over. we have been to the dmz. today is lovely day to relax. everybody is happy, excited. awe all right, lots of smiles there. talking to us there via skype from pyongyang with all of the celebrations in the background. many thanks to you. >> thank you. thank you. >> well, for one sick little boy, sometimes all you need is the comfort of your favorite toy. ethan carneseca in a children's hospital in to taupe for the past few weeks for pneumonia. >> doctors found out how much he loved hot wheel cars. made sure he had one for his checkups. then a hot wheels coll

leader of a pro-pyongyang group. abe criticized the notification from pyongyang when he met with families of the abductees. >> translator: the notification is totally unacceptable. the japanese government will be resolute in dealing with this situation. >> the leader of the families group urged the japanese government to do all it can as the abductees and families are reaching their limits physically and mentally. >> translator: we want the government to take decisive action to resolve the issue under any circumstances. we want officials to work with utmost patience to bring the abductees back home. >> the japanese government has filed an official complaint against north korea. >>> china's leaders have advanced their anti-corruption campaign by taking down a high level tiger. they have indicted former security chief zhou yongkang, the most senior figure to face such charges. nhk world's naoki makita reports from beijing. >> reporter: china's state-run media reports that zhou yongkang was indicted for bribery, abuse o

rosemary. >> talk to us about the celebrations under way in pyongyang. >> we saw the pyongyang marathon sunday. we have seen events. pyongyang marathon, sunday. we have seen the happy couple that the football match. sporting events have been prevalent. we are seeing festivities in the streets and many musical events. to mark the, the birth date, 103rd birth daytona of a very important day on north korean calendar. they would be expected to pay their respects to the eternal president, as he is known, kim jung-un, visited the mausoleum wheres they father and grandfather lay in statement. at the streak of mid night. he came into today. of course there is samba celebrations, commemorations from the family. but an important day in the calendar. we have been hearing from other sectors, human rights watch, for exam pull this shouldn't be remembered at the day. he should be remembered, similar to his grandson, kim jung-un. being cruel to his people. >> reporting there from seoul, watching events and monitoring them in north korea. many thanks to you. >> well, rammed by a police car. ahead, we w

they acted after authorities in pyongyang announced a new probe into the fate of japanese citizens. they include japanese abducted by north korean agents. kishida's remark may indicate the government could reimpose the sanctions, including travel restrictions. japanese leaders have been frustrated by the north korean's failure to provide information on the investigation. the japanese government has adopted a policy officials call action for action. they've already taken punitive measures. some economic sanctions against the north were due to expire this month but the japanese government decided on tuesday to extend them by two years. >>> a japanese woman who had been named the world's oldest person has died. misao okawa was 117. okawa had been living at a nursing home in osaka. staff members say she fell ill about ten days ago, and died wednesday of natural causes. okawa was born on march 5th, 1898 and she lived at a time before home telephones or air travel. guinness world records had listed her as the oldest person on the planet. and it says she had three children, four grandchild

the chinese government maintains ties with pyongyang and deports any north korea an defectors they finddaughters, instead of staying with them, she sought asylum in south korea, as she didn't want to burden them further. [ speaking foreign language ] >> she now receives $350 in benefits, but no matter how much she economizes, her monthly expenses reach $300, so she must earn money to cover anything more than the very basics. >> defectors often have very few trusted friends and no savings. their work experience in north korea is deemed useless. she says some of her friends have been moving on to other countries. [ speaking foreign language ] >> but she decided to stay, because one of her daughters also sought asylum in south korea. she began taking on new work, in addition to her work at home. such as selling scrap metal. her daughter married a south korean man and gave birth to a son last year. ♪ she gains motivation by reminding herself that if she works harder, at least she can buy her grandson some candy. [ speaking foreign language ] once she began working outside her home, she made

. >> despite pyongyang's silence this visit had seemed to be on. it does seem to be off. it would have made sense on a number of levels, a snub to china which has been harsh of its criticism over issues like nuclear testing. from russia's perspective would have been a snap total west or the united states that if you pressure us, we can go to your enemies. there is some internal event in north korea that requires kim jong-un's attention internal reasons not to travel to moscow. there would have been lots of other world leaders around media in the mix and so perhaps thought it would be too risky to make this first international visit in that potentially fluid situation. one russian academic with whom i spoke this week said the kremlin would have been finding it difficult to deal with pyongyang, there would have been long silence says and then rush to go get these organized. >> bailout talks between greece and its european creditors have dragged on for months greece hopes to lock in the final install of badly needed funds. public entities are forced to help keep the indealte

>>> north korea's neighbor and closest ally is putting out a frightening new report warping of pyongyang's nuclear capabilities. that story is ahead. >>> and then a u.s. general who divulged classified information to his loafer has learned his fate. what david petraeus had to say outside the courtroom. hello! this little beauty here is top-of-the-line. see, you just pull like this to go left. and like so to go right. where are the brakes? uh, just grab ahold of both and pull straight back. and the "whoa!" is optional. you wouldn't buy a motorcycle without handlebars. no thanks. and you shouldn't ride a motorcycle without geico insurance. roadside assistance, 24 hour service, great rates. geico motorcycle. see how much you could save. are the largest targets in the world, for every hacker, crook and nuisance in the world. but systems policed by hp's cyber security team are constantly monitored for threats. outside and in. that's why hp reports and helps neutralize more intrusions than anyone. in the world. if hp security solutions can help keep the world's largest organizations safe, they c

the prime minister and the president ball over backward to say that this was not a provocation to pyongyang or beijing. >> i hope they do not see it that way. it is a deterrent. the mortar turns you have in northeast asia, the safer everyone is -- the more deterrence you have in northeast asia, the safer everyone is. you don't want anyone to be irrational. we do not want to have a war in northeast asia, we want to prevent one. these are two leaders have said that today, and will say it again tomorrow, that when the united states and japan are allied it makes all of northeast asia safer. katty: the other thing the prime minister was asked about is something congress will be watching during his address tomorrow what he says about the second world war. he was asked if it was not an opportunity to apologize for the council, does that make the japanese prime minister's life easier if you made an apology for what japan did during the second world war. >> i've literally lost count of how many times they have apologized. the apologies have been met with , very insincere is what was claimed. the pri

the white house accused pyongyang of being behind the attack, something north korea has denied.ikileaks has made all the files available to the public. julian assange says it published the material as a public service. wikileaks described sony pictures as an influential and secretive company with the ability to impact laws and policies and with connections to the u.s. military-industrial complex. sony's ceo michael lynton sits on the board of the rand corporation. the leaked material shows lynton met with barack obama for a dinner and planned. sony says the release exacerbates what was originally a malicious criminal act. molly: coming up on 15 minutes past the hour. a check of the headlines. remembering the victims of germanwings flight 9525. leaders joining families in cologne to patriot to those who lost their lives. combating racism and anti-semitism in france. manuel valls unveils a set of measures aims at increasing social tolerance. cambodians mark 40 years that the khmer rouge marched on the capital. it ushered in four years of brutal communist rule, resulting in the dea

officials in pyongyang posted a statement online. they say sending the balloons was equivalent of proclamation of war and they said they'll respond with a powerful blow. people in the south also used balloons last october to send pamphlets criticizing the government. and they fired bullets across the border and warned south koreans living near the border to evacuate when they learned of the plan to launch dvd balloons. >>> a japanese think tank says china is pushing forward with military reforms with a view to enhance its actual combat capabilities. the national institute for defense studies has released the annual report on the security situation in east asia. the report claims chinese president xi jinping's emphasis on the pursuit of active foreign policy is driving the government's unilateral hardline stance abroad. it said this can be seen through china's establishment of a zone over the east china sea. it cites the deployment of an oil rig in waters off the south china sea that are also claimed by vietnam. the report also indica

cooperate with relevant countries to seek a comprehensive solution to all pending issues including pyongyang's nuclear and missile programs. the u.s. defense secretary says washington is starting a new phase of its shift in foreign policy toward the asia pacific region. ash carter spoke ahead of his first trip to japan in south korea as defense chief. >> we will continue to invest in future capabilities that will be especially relevant to the asia pacific's complex and dynamic security environment. >> carter said the u.s. would invest in advanced weapons to cope with changes in security situations in the region. he said the u.s. is deeply concerned about some of china's activities. he said it's defense budget actions in cyberspace and behavior in the south china sea raise serious questions. he said he hoped that military exchanges between the two countries will reduce risk with china. carter also referred to the ongoing review of guidelines on u.s./japan defense cooperation. he said the new guidelines will allow more cooperation in areas such as outer space and cyberspace. >>> u.n. officials h

the country's official media reported on thursday the supreme people's assembly convened in pyongyang. pak pong jug says he'll create economic programs on all fronts for the nation building process. the government is promising to solve problems related to food, electricity and other aspects of daily life. the past budget plan reported allots more spending than last year on agriculture, fisheries, manufacturing and other sectors. north korea's media did not clarify whether kim attended the session or why it didn't report on this. some observers say kim may have been injured based on photos released on wednesday. that's by north korea's state-run tv. his right wrist appears to be bandaged. others say kim has cemented his power to the point where he no longer needs to attend parliamentary sessions. >>> investors have been pouring into japanese stocks. they're taking the leading nikkei index towards levels not seen in 15 years. ai uchida joins us from our business desk. everybody's waiting for that 20,000 key level. how close are we this morning? >> at the open the nikkei was just about 1

the streets of pyongyang. around 600 foreigners took part in this week's marathon half marathon and 10k, joining north korean runners in the capital of this infamously reclusive country. >> simply just by stating i'm going to pyongyang to run, they second look at you. >> reporter: nicholas bonner who also ran this week brought more than 250 participants to north korea through his beijing based travel company. >> there's quite an argument to be made against bringing tourists bringing money to this regime. >> certainly understandable. but to me it's the very fact that it's exposing a korean population to foreigners. they have no internet they have no access to the outside world and it's this exposure that i think has such a meaningful attribute for the north korean population. >> reporter: sunday's marathon has been held for 27 years as part of a series of events marking the birthday of the country's founder. this was only the second year amateur runners were invited. >> everyone who finished the marathon receiv

north korea is close second, pyongyang prohibiting most internet access less than 10" of the population have cameras. >>> after a wave of criticism for other governments south africa deployed soldiers to battle anti-immigrant violence. south africa announced the move after weeks of attacks and looting of immigrants shops. hundreds of mying friends were forced -- migrants were forced into shelters. a spate of attacks started in 2008. the violence frightened some returning to their own counties. we spoke to families that went back to neighbouring zimbabwe. >> joyce worked as a hairdresser in south africa. the $200 she earnt looked after her children. she said some of the locals resented her for accepting low pay. when attacks on migrants started, she feared her family would be targeted. >> we are afraid of being kid. they were going to schools. that's why i'm with my daughter. they were attacking the foreigners in schools. >> so to come. >> at the zimbabwe border post. they are relieved to be save. even if companies are rough. the reality of being in zimbabwe, is sinking in. >> it's less

. >> nawe north korea's first lad made a rare public appearance in pyongyang.d she was at the match with her husband, kim jung-un. first public appearance since december. >> schools in sierra leon are opening tuesday. first time in eight months. the company shut the schools down when ebola erupted in west africa last year. they were scheduled to reopen march 30th. but the date was pushed back due to a spike in new ebola cases. >> we want to get you this information just in to cnn. authorities have arrested two british nationals suspected of trying to illegally cross into syria from turkey. now police arrested one man tuesday at birmingham airport. and another monday night. confirmed the cases are in fact linked. the men were part of a group of british nationals caught trying to cross into syria earlier this month. keep me posted on that development. the social media movement. bring back our girls began. >> as the weeks and months went by, the campaign faded from the mind of many. now one, reporter in snooi nigeria is keeping it alive each and every day. >> i do

with iran north korea, president clinton at the time did a deal with pyongyang and they halted the weapons for 12 years. china is concerned that the north korean nuclear threat is rising. this could potentially threaten us here in the u.s. president obama is lifting sanctions and we're repeating history. >> this is about appeasement. we are not -- we are rewarding bad behavior. iran is sponsoring terrorism all over the middle east. they told us that anything we've agreed to that we've said we've agreed to they are not going to agree to. appeasement does not work. >> the iranians have made clear they are not g ... sites. obama appears to have caved that the sanctions will be immediately lifted apparently on the signing of the deal. julie, the premise of your question is right. they are the top allies of the north koreans. this is an unsafe world with a president who is not doing what he said. >> a president needs to know their foreign policy. >> excuse me. remember the same woman, wendy sherman, who negotiated that disastrous deal in 1994 is now negotiating the iran deal. she's the chief ne

. >> they would start in north korea, across the demilitarized zone to pyongyang?at is the plan. >> that's a long walk. >> it's a long walk. it's going to happen may 24th if it happens at all. the north korean regime is accused of some incredible human rights violations towards women. the forcible detention of women in labor camps, raping of women. kim jong-un is said to be starting joy brigades again. these are women they're 15 to 20 years old basically there to give pleasure and entertainment to kim and and north korean leadership. this is not a regime sympathetic to women's causes which makes this more skurscurious. >> there are troops along the border in the demilitarized zone as well. >> we'll have more. >> i'll be back in the situation room. for viewers in north korea, "newsroom" with brianna keilar today starts right now. >>> good afternoon. i'm brianna keilar in for brooke baldwin. two years after the deadliest terror attack to hit the city of boston the boston marathon bombings. the man charge aed in the attack is now underway in court. he faces 30 counts

ken yongdo was a member of the elite and still contacts in pyongyang.d he's erratic and unpredictable. he's much younger than when jong-il took picture. he's trying to show he's fearless and does things that put him in the way of danger and feels the need to show off. some tastes have been passed down from father to son. although with kim jong-un, skirts are shorter and the music are funkier but the entertainment doesn't start there, according to kim jong-il,'s former body guard. women that attend over the need and no doubt the son has the same. there are usually six ladies in their early 20s, said lee young-guk. they have to be a certain height and charming. they're trained from a young age to sing and talk politics and economics. >> pleasure squads. an astounding concept when you think this is actually real life. paula is with me now but say defectors say the reason from the eyebrows in half to show he's quote unquote strong and mean. mean for sure. strong perhaps not. paula, it's interesting the defense secretary ashton carter was talking about kim j

erica woods in cape town, and that coming up >>> hundreds of runners allowed on to the streets of pyongyang for the north korean marathon. >>> welcome back let's recap the headlines in al jazeera. the saudi defence minister says three army officers have been killed by mortar shells fired from yemen. and happened in the saudi border. the kenyan government gives the u.n. three months to close the badaab refugee camp. >>> parents in australia who refuse to vaccinate their children could lose out on benefits. the pop si dubbed no jab, no pay could cost up to 12,000 per child. >>> iraqi troops say they are making progress in anbar province in an offensive against i.s.i.l. fighters are helping, anbar is a large province bordering syria and jordan >>> the baghdad bureau chief for reuters left iraq after receiving death threats. ned parker and two colleagues wrote a report detailing human rights abuses and the article noted widespread looting after forces and shiite militia recaptured it from i.s.i.l. last month >>> let's go to a retired lebanese army general joining us from beirut to talk about th

leading to speculation that pyongyang may launch a missile. south korean defence ministry says it has no indication from morne neighbours. neither the government for the maritime institution have received a warning >>> the democratic republic of congo are carrying out a military campaign against forces. the congo lease army will capture the group's leaders. the ugandan rebels use the border to launch attacks. we gained access to a forest camp. gerald tan has more. >> reporter: a bird's eye view of beni. hidden in the forests, the democratic republic of congo, is a rebel group accused of human right violation over the last 20 years. the misty upham is on a mission to track them down and launched a new offensive alongside the congolese fighters to weed out the fighters from the democratic forces. >> we reinforced our forces. they'll concentrate on security for the people. >> the u.n. peacekeepers head to a camp. they face a formidable enemy. the adf is highly organised, secretive and well armed. it's led by ugandan exiles who want to overthrow t

locals packed to pyongyang to see the start of the race. an annual part of celebrations for kim il-sun grandfather of kim jong un. the race is now formally recognised by the international athletics federation. >>> indian tennis player and partner twice came out of retirement and are the new world doubles number one. they won in miami and indian wells recently. they beat casey dell aqua and her partner. hingis was called up to play doubt for the swiss federation cup team for the first time in 17 years. >> it's great to see her again. >> though i feel old. i remember when she started out. >> me too. >> thank you. >> that is it from the newshour. back with more news in a couple of minutes. join me then. bye-bye. per cent per cent cent today we look at whether america's fight against terrorism works as it is supposed to. i'm david shuster in for ali velshi, our report - a smarter war on terror begins right now. >>> america's domestic war on terror is back in the spotlight. debate about its successes and failures continue. more than a week ago p

released a photo of kim jong-un with his wife has rarely been seen in public at a soccer match in pyongyangrth contrary has been secretive of the dictator's family. it is believed the couple married in 2009 after kim jong-un took power. she stepped back after giving birth to their daughter in 2012. >>> disney night was no fairytale for a celebrity on "dancing with the stars" last night. >> suzanne and tony. >> the dance is over for suzanne somers voted east last night after what was called the best performance of the season. but the night belonged to rumor willis who refused to dress lick a princess and was the evil. rusula and woman the top spot. we will hear from suzanne somers and who she thinks will take home the trophy. >> that costume with the purpose people skip it rocked. good for her. >> we have the cost of being world champions, the giants popularity is pushing up prices for parking. >>> the ferry building can be seen in >>> live from the kgo-tv broadcast center this is abc7 news. >> good tuesday morning at 5:28. thanks for joining us. i am kristen sze. >> i am eric thomas. with l

international runners from 30 different countries to kpaetd in sundcomp -- it compete in sunday's pyongyang marathon. >> reporter: it was one of the most secretive of countries around the world. runners around the globe got the rare chance to run through the streets of north korea's capital. cnn spoke to one man who helped bring hundreds of tourists to run in the 28th annual marathon. >> what i saw today -- i didn't run it myself, i was overseeing several hundred of the many runners. about 20% were from the united states, and then people from britain, from germany, a lot of people from the norther lands, scandinavia, so. on also freedom colombia, one chap from lie beer yampt. >> reporter: just the second time amateur athletes could compete in the race. many snapped pictures posting on social media and inside the stadium where the race started and ended. thousands watched. >> a lot of people do poorly again their personal best because they spend a lot of the run waving to and high fiving with role koreans. >> reporter: running alongside north koreans could a rare chance to get to know some o

he was a member of the north korean elite and says he still has contacts within pyongyang. calls the young leader erratic and unpredictable. kim jong-un is much jonger ththan -- younger than kim jong-il was when he was in power. he does things that put him in the way of danger and feels the need to show off. some tastes have been passed down from father to son, although with kim jong-un the skits are shorter and the music funkier. the entertainment doesn't stop this, according to kim jong-il's former bodyguard. he said the father had pleasure squads of women to attend his every need. he has no doubt the son has the same. there were usually six ladies in their early 20s, he says. they were replaced every six months. they had to be pretty, a certain height, well spoken, and charming. they're trained from a young age to sing and talk politics and economics. one interesting fact brought up by both defactors, they don't think kim jong-un's rule will last that long, giving him between three and five years before he's toppled. they said considering even family isn't safe these day

officials say but one day being the flight time from pyongyang to tehran.ve a limited ability to affect this largely because iran is so far close to a weapon. but i think there are a number of things that we could try to do, which is first of all to ring fence iran off of north korea and also i think we need to redouble our efforts to try to deal with north korea and we can do that in terms of sanctions and we certainly can do that in stopping north korea in shipping which has been carrying all these missiles and nukes from north korea to iran. the other issue is that they've been flying this stuff off chinese air space between pyongyang and tehran. that's going to be very difficult for us to deal with. the administration of george w. bush completely failed in stopping china from doing this. >> despite the inadequacyiesinadequacies, is this preliminary deal worth pursuing with iran? >> it's worth pursuing to see how serious they are. the one thing the white house fact sheet said thursday north korea agreed to the additional protocol which allows for any tim

and i know he had a wonderful time in pyongyang.hanks to the role that jim played he returned home with kenneth bae and matthew miller to be reunited with their families. today's also special to him because it happens to be his 50th wedding anniversary to his wonderful wife sue. so we want to congratulate the two of them. [ applause ] [ applause ] and fear not, this is not all he's doing for their 50th wedding anniversary. my understanding is they're headed off for a well-deserved anniversary vacation this weekend, so i'm going to move this along. the second reason i wanted to be here was to thank all of you at odni. i say jim or mike dempsey or sometimes stephanie every morning. i know that everything they present reflects incredible hard work on the part of hundreds of people thousands of people across the various agencies that are represented. and i want you to know that jim and mike and stephanie and all the folks giving these briefings, they're the first one to acknowledge that they are just the tip of the operation and that th

japanese security stance if you think there's a risk it might be seen as a provocation in beijing, pyongyang or heightened tensions in the south china seas. mr. abe you stopped short of a full apology for japan's actions during world war ii including with regard to the estimated 200,000 women enslaved by imperial forces. would you make an apology for that today? thank you. >> i think it's very important to recognize that the u.s./japan alliance hasn't just been good for the united states and japan, it's been good for the as asia-pacific region and the world. the basic foundation of peace, stability, ensuring that territorial borders were respected, freedom of navigation, all that has underwritten the incredible growth that's taken place in the asia-pacific region. china's benefited from it. it's on that basis that china became a economic juggernaut that ended up being incorporated into global trade. and so no, we don't think that a strongs u.s./japan alliance should be seen as a provocation. we should -- it should be seen as a continuation of the important work that we've done to ensure that

if you think there's a risk it might be seen as a provocation in beijing, pyongyang or heightened tension in the east china sea. and for mr. abe, you stopped short of a full apology for japan's actions during world war ii and including with regard to the estimated 200,000 women enslaved by imperial forces, would you make an apology for that today? thank you. >> i think it's very important to recognize that the u.s./japan alliance hasn't just been good for the united states and japan, it's been good for the asia/pacific region, and the world. the basic foundation of peace, stability, insuring that territorial borders were respected. freedom of navigation. all of that has underwritten the incredible growth that's taken place in the asia pacific region. china has benefitted from it. it's on that basis that china became an economic juggernaut that ended up being incorporated into global trade. and so no, we don't think that a strong u.s./japan alliance should be seen as a provocation. we should, it should be seen as a continuation of the important work that we've done to insure that you have

>>james:the wife of north korean leader kim jong un made a rare public appearance in pyongyang monday. >>james:north korea's state-run news agency reports she went to a soccer match with her husband. these are some of the photos of her appearance. >>james:this was the first time ri sol ju's has been seen in public since december. >>james: of april 14th to back it 1865 he shot the president and forfeited and washington the following morning last a week after the end of the civil war he began the first american president killed an office for his theater remain close to more than a century but today is a permanent museum focus on weaken and the assassination of the theater will be halted round- the-clock event will be open for 36 hours today and tomorrow we'll take a critic would say with the city's top cop had to say about the department's sex and scandal and other issues affecting the force keeping an eye on the weather and traffic here is his ally of the outside of the bay bridge approachable be back in just two minutes. i'm carie.i'vead meratto sereplaq psoasisost my lif but that has

and i know he had a wonderful time in pyongyang.er to be reunited with their families. today is also special to him because it happens to be his 50th wedding anniversary to his wonderful wife sue. we want to congratulate the two of them. and fear not, this is not all he's doing for the 50th wedding anniversary. my understanding is that they are heading off for a well deserved anniversary this weekend and i'm going to move this along. the second reason i want to be here to thank all of you at odni chairman dempsey or sometimes stephanie every morning. i know that everything they present reflects incredible hard work on the part of hundreds of people thousands of people about various agencies represented. i want you to know that jim and mike and stephanie and all of the folks who have given these briefings, they are the first one to acknowledge that they are just the tip of the operation and that they can't do their job if it weren't for the incredible contributions that all of you are making every single day. i know that sometimes it

and i know he had a wonderful time in pyongyang.ut thanks to the role jim played, he returned home with kenneth bay and matthew miller to be reunited be their families. today is also special to him because it happens to be his 50th wedding anniversary to his wonderful wife sue. we want to congratulate the two of them. [ applause ] and fear not, this is not all his doing for their 50th wedding anniversary. my understanding is they're headed off to a well deserved vacation this weekend. so i am going to move this along. the second reason i wanted to be here is to thank you. i see jim or mike dempsey sometimes stephanie every morning and i know that everything they present reflects incredible hard work on the part of hundreds of people, thousands of people across the various agencies that are represented. and i want you to know that jim and mike and stephanie and all of the folks that give me the briefings, they're the first one to acknowledge that they are just the tip of the operation and that they can't do their job if it weren't fo