in a statement, their families said they're overjoyed and counting the seconds to hold laura and yuna in our arms. free position the two was the main mission, but talks were wide ranging. and clinton got a meeting with kim jong-il. when clinton was president, former president jimmy carter went to north korea hnd helped cut a nuclear weapons ban. the deal slowly fell apart. two months ago, the north tested a nuclear with that. can clinton help now? >> possibly he'll be back with a message that says they're ready to talk to us. that's about all we can expect. >> reporter: but the north koreans have notched a win. >> they're able to have a big missile test, a nuclear test, capture these two journalists and still got bill clinton to show up. you put it all together and it looks pretty good as a set of tactics by the north koreans. >>eporter: will sending bill clinton be a winning tactic by president obama is this an open question as the former president and his party left north korea. well here's the tally. lee and ling are pardoned. we think they're free. and the obama administration has

they are lauraling yuna lee. they had been sentenced to 12 years for spying. mr.nton is expected to flight out with them as soon as wednesday. mr. clinton would have learned much of kim's physical and medical state. the north korean leader is ill and gaunt. he is said to have had a stroke. is there more at stake here? >> this could re-- lead to the resetting of u.s.-north korea relations and possibly to the beginning of normization of u.s. and north korean relations. this could be huge. >> north korea's nuclear program frightens asia and the world. they have the ability to explode a nuclear divides. the u.s., russia and china have all been unable to persuade them to give up their ambitions. but might there be a new opening now? a clue. bill clinton was medical on the tarmac by north korea's chief nuclear negotiator. is that a signal? this is an extraordinary outcossak for the u.s. and the clintons. in the coming days, the world will be looking for more signs that the north koreans ready to start reengaging with the world. adam brooks, washington. >> and more diplo

clinton in is north korea trying to arrange the release of two american journalists laura ling and yuna li. they were arrested near the north korean border. >>> news, weather and traffic is still ahead for u more on president clinton's trip to north korea. will he be able to get two imprisoned journalists released? we talk about the standing nuclear program and missile launch program there as well.

laura ling and yuna lee were arrested to 12 years hard labor after being arrested for entering the countryegally in march. a u.s. official says the journalists are in good spirits and good health. >>> at least four people were killed, another ten wounded, when a gunman opened fire at a fitness center outside pittsburgh tonight. the gunman reportedly entered an aerobics class and opened fire with two handguns and reportedly turned the gun on himself. >>> a massive fire at a fuel storage building near detroit has forced evacuation of nearby residents. fire crews also pulled out as there were two 6,000-gallon fuel tanks in danger of exploding. now back to "hardball." >>> we've got the first "hardball" primary of the season coming out now. u.s. congressman joe sestak announced this morning that he'll run against senator arlen specter in pennsylvania's democratic primary next year. specter, of course, is now a democrat. the winner of that fight will face republican pat toomey it looks like in the general election next november. all three candidates are with us tonight. we begin with pat toomey,

they were ordered to 12 years of hard labor, laura ling and yuna lee. now the president -- it's unclear who requested him to come over to north korea, but can he get the job done? he's known as a diplomat. the rest of the world basically loves this guy. can he make his magic work there? steve: the two women were working for a company that was owned by al gore. and al gore does have an association with bill clinton. i believe they worked together back in the 1990's from what i remember. >> they don't like each other, i don't think. steve: then why is he here? apparently one of the families said, remember, we've imprisoned the girls for 12 years because we think they were spies. but, you know what? we would release them to bill clinton. if bill clinton shows up, laura ling and yuna lee, we might release them so bill clinton has shown up. >> which is interesting and terrific. obviously this has the approval of secretary of state clinton, his wife, and president obama. but people were talking about this. early on, would president clinton be an ambassador fo