navy strikeforce heads for korea. donald trump tells his advisers to prepare to deal with pyongyang's nuclear threat. and a state of emergency is declared in egypt after two bomb attacks on coptic christians leaves more than 40 coptic christians leaves more than a0 dead. i am babita sharma in london. a horrifying discovery in western india. how this mass grave has again shared light on the victims of sex selective abortions. in india, you go through so much every other daughter and get married. what is the use if this is the end? —— go through so much to raise your daughter and get married. and glory for sergio garcia, the spanish golfer tom as he finally wins his first major title, the masters in augusta. —— golfer, as. good morning. it is sam here in singapore, iam in london, and eight in the evening in washington where president trump has asked his advisers to be prepared to give a full range of options to deal with the nuclear threat in north korea. a us navy strike group is already heading towards the kor

north korea firing a ballistic missile after trump warns of a major, major conflict with north korea. how will the president respond now? and on day 99 of his presidency, the senator he called "pocahontas." let's go "out front." good evening. i'm erin burnett. "out front" tonight, breaking news. north korea test firing a ballistic missile. this is the ninth launch attempt since president trump took

on north korea. and in connection with the response to the mass murder of -- on the party of the assad regime. in connection with the u.n. vote. think president xi was courageous in distancing himself from the russians and the believe ybo live yans. this on the same day that president trump hosted the secretary general of nato, repping our wonderful nato alice. the world saw that. what club in the russian-bo live yan club or the club with the united states, working together on mutual interests, peace, security, i think it was great week for the united states. and thanks mostly to our president. >> you sound very confident. president trump sounds confident. one final question. every president since bill clinton has said the u.s. will not tolerate a neuroleer-armed north korea. they have only grown stronger in their capabilities. why do you think president trump will have a different outcome? >> well, as you mentioned, this is a problem that has been passed down from multiple administrations. but, our

that means that they're not ruling out striking north korea particularly if north korea were to test an icbm, a missile that could reach the u.s. >> i'm going to stay on the north korea topic a while, but i want to interrupt this discussion with more from the reuters interview, where president trump said he didn't think being president would be so hard. i just want to share with you. i know this is familiar to you and everyone else, but let's take a look at how donald trump's thoughts about being president have evolved since the campaign. >> you're going to have such great health care at a tiny fraction of the cost, and it's going to be so easy. going to be so easy. stupidly easy to solve. nobody knew health care could be so complicated. trade is easy. this is more work than i thought. i thought it'd be easier. presidential is easy. you know what presidential is? i walk on. >> there are things like this that have come up with a lot of reporters, where president trump said, who thought health care would be complicated, north korea would be complicated. what do you make of this? >> it

position in north korea. and this is one of the reasons that the chinese, they could end the situation in north korea. i wouldn't say overnight. but very shortly they chose to do so. they haven't chosen to do so. they didn't do it with president bush. they didn't do it with president obama. we'll see whether they do it with president trump. but here is the situation. you know, putin loves this, what has happened with us in north korea. i mean, he is smiling like a deacon with four aces. this is exactly where he would like it, overstretched, possibility of a land war in asia. possibility of land war in asia? >> impossible brinksmanship where there is no way out to make us look good let alone safe. >> tan chinese have to like where they are because president trump himself is saying i need you so badly, i'll give you something on the trade side if you give some help. and the chinese say well, we'll be in touch with you about that. and they have made a coupe of moves. but here what concerns me and i think concern

what is the real timeline for north korea to develop a weapon like this? >> north korea has taken actions over the past years to expand its ballistic missile capabilities but it's still very far from having a missile with a range long enough to target the united states. right now it's unlikely they could even reach guam. but north korea is taking troubling steps that indicate that it's moving in that direction. that's why a new diplomatic initiative, a new strategy and a new policy targeted at freezing those launches to prevent north korea from developing that capability is what the trump administration really needs to be focused on right now. >> do you have a timeline? is it years, months, decades? how long before they can do something like that? >> well, they are testing rocket

and of course seoul, south korea. he's sending a message all over the place. >> china in recent days say they were going to toughen up, they might implement some sanctions. don't think for a minute he isn't trying to message beijing. >> listen to the president in an interview saying he didn't think it was necessarily going to be as hard as it turned out to be. >> i loved my previous life. i had so many things going. i actually -- this is more work than in my previous life. i thought it would be easier. i thought it was more of a -- i'm a details oriented person, i think you would say that, but i do miss my old life. this -- i like to work so that's not a problem but this is actually more work. >> i mean really? >> stunning in some ways to hear him say that. he of course as a candidate did talk about how easy it would be to do any number of things. he talked about how stupid the people were were in office and they weren't able to get things done. it really is a stunning admission for him to say this is a lot more work.

korea and south korea. the chinese leadership that this is coming to a head. it time for us to take action we can short of the military option to resolve this peacefully. >> reporter: you heard mcmaster talking about all actions short of military action. it is interesting to see the president take to twitter on sunday morning to talk about u.s. military prowess. he tweeted our military is building and rapidly becoming stronger than ever before. frankly, we have no choice. you have a lot of tough rhetoric on both sides. you have north korean officials saying the country is ready for war. the president bragging about u.s. military strength and china calling on both sides to reach a peaceful solution. a lot of eyes will be on what comes out of the vice president's trip this week. poppy. >> athena jones in washington. thank you. u.s. military experts analyzing these images of the north korea missile arsenal for the world to see over the weekend at the parade. what does this issay about the military advances? we have barbara starr at the pentagon. they are pointing

then there's north korea. trump consistently blasted china from failing to stop kim jong-un's nuclear weapons program. now this. >> we have a very big problem in north korea. as i said, i really think that china is going to try very hard and has already started. >> reporter: so, what changed? had. >> i have really gotten to like and respect, as you know. president xi is a terrific person. spent a lot of time together in florida. and he's a very special man. >> reporter: the new detent appears to have started in the sunny confines of mar-a-lago at the crucial first in. person meeting on april 6th. trump said talking with xi helped change his mind on china's ability to handle north korea. after listening for ten minutes, i realized it is not so easy, the president told the "wall street journal." trump went on to praise china for banning north korean coal imports, a move china actually made back in february. >> the vast amount of coal that comes out of north korea going to china, they've turned back the votes. >>

we start with breaking news from north korea. in the last couple of hours, the us military and south korean officials have confirmed north korea has fired a ballistic missile which exploded shortly after lift—off. the launch, from an airfield in pukchang, camejust hours after a special session at the un security council in which the us pushed for tougher sanctions on the pyongyang regime. barbara plett—usher reports from un headquarters in new york. after weeks of mounting concern in washington over north korea, the secretary of state arrived in the united nations to make his case. un sanctions aren't working was the message, there needs to be a new campaign of pressure. and he clarified the stakes, ultimately this is being driven by america's of national security concerns he said, so national security concerns he said, so it's serious. with each successful detonation and missile test, north korea pushes east asia and the world closer to instability and the world closer to instability and broader conflict. the threat of and b

his first stop as i mentioned is south korea. he will be meeting with the country's acting president. at the moment no plans to go to the dnc. out the engine at the border and will be heading to japan and indonesia, australia and hawaii and julie, the whole point of this trip is to reassure all of our allies in the region that the u.s. is prepared to stand behind them in the face of this growing nuclear threat from north korea and the fact that they just testfired another ballistic missile, even though it failed goes to show you how hot tensions are right now in the region. >> north korea's vice foreign minister sent a chilling warning yesterday. the threat came on good friday, a christian holiday right before the easter weekend. certainly, setting off what we all believe to be a potentially interesting easter weekend. they had come out and said president donald trump's tweets are adding fuel to what they call a vicious cycle of tension on the korean peninsula. talk a little bit about how north korea has responded to president tr

from seoul, south korea tonight. >> reporter: a showcase of north korea's capabilities, including its first submarine launched ballistic missile and this, what experts believe is a prototype of a new int intercontinental ballistic missile designed to potentially reach the united states. north korea's leader, kim jong-un, center stage for the display of military might that came with a public message. the second in command warning the u.s., we will respond to all-out war with all-out war. state television calling president trump the threat with his so-called messages to north korea. >> treat us as a nuclear weapon state. >> reporter: for weeks concern has mounted that kim jong-un was preparing a sixth nuclear test or a missile launch. >> north korea's a problem. the problem will be taken care of. i will say this, i think china has really been working very hard. >> reporter: china has urged both sides to back down cautioning it could spiral out of control with u.s. war ships on the way and seoul within striking distance of north korean missiles, one mistake could trigger disaster and u.s

south korea against the threat from north korea. it is aimed at north korea, the systems, and it poses no threat to china. john mccain: but isn't it incredibly difficult to counter the 4000 artillery pieces the north koreans have on the dmz which could attack a city of 26 million people? harry harris: it is, sir. and thaad is not designed to counter those kinds of basic weapons. john mccain: and what is designed to do that, anything? harry harris: we do not have those kinds of weapons that can counter those rockets once they're launched. john mccain: and they can launch -- they have the capability of a launch of those rockets? harry harris: at this very moment, they have that capability, sir. john mccain: what do you make of china's reaction to our emplacement of thaad, a purely defensive system? does that give you an idea of china's real intentions about north korea? harry harris: i've said before, chairman, i believe it's preposterous that china would criticize south korea or the united states for placing a purely defensive missil

of the submarines of north korea and also close to several nuclear sites there in north korea. we have had statements from the defense secretary of the united states fairly straightforward saying that the president and the military team of the united states are aware of north korea's missile launch and saying that president trump will have no further comment. this is all of the reaction based on this test that happened about four hours ago. i do want to go straight to the korean peninsula there in south korea in seoul specifically. janice our correspondent on the ground. what we also understand is that according to a south korean appreciab presidential spokesperson the national security council is convening at the moment about 30 minutes ago. don't know whether it did start on time and whether it finished. what are you hearing about that meeting and that convening and what may come out of it? >> reporter: this is standard operating procedure when there are provocations like this by north korea that south korean officials will gather to assess what it is they know and how can th

and north korea. plus, what would you like to ask the panel about how the president should handle provocations from kim jong un and? go to facebook or twitter, @foxnewssunday and we may use your question on the air. >> chris: president trump sharply escalating his rhetoric on russians role in syria. >> chairman thornberry: if russia didn't go in and back this animal, you wouldn't have a problem right now. >> chris: we will ask our sunday panel about the new chill in relations >> if you look at what has happened over the last eight weeks and compare that relate to what's happened over the last eight years, we will see there is a tremendous >> chris: president trump highlighting what he says is an end to the micromanaging of the military. president obama with what he believes are better results. it's time now for our sunday group, michael needham, at of the conservative think tank heritage action for america, bob woodward from "the washington post," fox news national security correspondent jennifer grif

north korea and south korea, now in the midst of an armistice, still technically at war. now, the dmz, the demilitarized zone, he's close to it or in the zone itself right now, in the zone, when you do arrive, there is a building where there were meetings that were held between the north and the south, it is basically a time capsule, going back decades of when there was a different time, the north, the communists, the south, and the western united states, where they would meet and negotiate and discuss issues relevant at the time to the post armed conflict that had been happening during the korean war. we're now many decad later, bu vice president pence now visiting the dmz, the demi demilitarized zone, a space you actually, if you look over, it is completely green. there are no buildings. it is a space that the two sides, north korea and south korea stare each other down hour after hour and as was expected, he's not in the dmz technically. there is an approach zone. you arrive at gates. and we're taking the pictures live. you can see the camera is resetting as vice presi

south korea. we welcome your views on whether further enhancements or our conventional military posture are required to counter the threat from north korea. for years the united states has looked to china, north korea's patron and ally to bring the regime and achieve progress towards a korean peninsula. we have done so for the simple reason that china is the only company that may have the influence to curb destabilizing behavior. china we repeatedly. i welcome the outreach on the issue of north korea. but as these discussions continue the united states should be clear that while we earnestly seek china's cooperation on north korea we do not seek such cooperation at other vital interests. we must not and will not bargain over our allowances or principals of the rules-based order. as the behavior towards south korea china acted less and less of the rules based order and more like a bully. it is economically coerced its neighbors, increased provocations and militarized the south china sea. with a reb

korea. admiral harris, i appreciate your appearance before the committee during this tense period in your area of responsibility. ery i want to express the appreciation of this committee for those who defend our nation every day. america's interests in the asia pacific region are deep and enduring. that's why for the past 70 years we have worked with our allies to propose a rules-based order based on the principles of free peoples and free markets, open seas and open skies and the rule of law and the peaceful resolution of disputes. these ideas have produced unpress denltded peace and prosperity in the asia pacific. but now the challenge so this rules-based order amounting and they threaten not just the nations of the asia pacific region but the united states, as well. the most immediate threat is a situation on the korean peninsula. kim jong-un's regime has thrown its full weight behind its quest for nuclear weapons and the means to deliver them. unfortunately, the regime is making real pro

and north korea, we're joined now from rome by silivia. she's a reporter for politico, thank you so much for talking with us. no doubt you had the opportunity to watch that joint statement there with mike pence, the vice president of the united states and indeed the acts president there in south korea, a very firm stance that we're united here. the u.s. saying, we're with you 100% and a clear message to north korea and, indeed, to china, don't test us. >> exactly, rosemary. pence did once show, once again, the u.s.'s resolve in this situation with north korea. he wanted to reiterate that the u.s. is going to back south korea and, of course, there was a subtle message there to china because, of course, china here is key. what we've been seeing in the past few days is also a shift in president trump's attitude towards china, which in this situation is probably the only way and the only country and the only government that somehow has leeway on north korea because of north korea's economic dependence on china. and so probably a clear shift in

high alert, north korea. reporting from seoul, south korea, co-anchor martha raddatz. >> hello, from seoul, south korea. it's evening here in the city of 10 million people. on high alert on a weekend of g the launch pad. u.s. officials believe it was likely a medium-range ballistic missile, the kind we have seen before. still, the latest launch rattled nerves, especially after the sudden appearance saturday of what could be new long-range weapons at north korea's big anniversary parade. canisters that appear large enough to house a missile capable of hitting the united states. you can see them there rolling past north korean leader kim jong-un. green camo on huge transporters. if he, indeed, has a missile big enough to reach the united states, and if he can make a war head small enough to fit on it, will the u.s. be forced to respond? this hour, all the angles on the most important story in the world right now. and the urgent questions. how far along is north korea's nuclear program? are the new missiles we s

such a conundrum, how to deal with north korea. and south korea in their. >> easter weekend, a weekend of peace, can we do it without military, is that what we all want? >> of course because once a nuke is unleashed who knows where it doesn't stop? look how world war i started. pistol shots. china is the country to do it. david: on that positive note. it is 3 days away, you're scrambling to get to all that paperwork, we are dusting off a gop plan to let you file your jackie: as an 18 year old, i let my mistakes kind of take over my life. i was point-five credits away from completing high school and i didn't do it. angela: i got pregnant and i was the main one working so, i did what i had to do to survive. jocelyn: sentía que la escuela no era para mí. karim: most of my family they never graduated high school or even let alone go to college so i'm trying to break that barrier. jackie: my family never stopped pushing for me to be better because they knew what i could become and who i could become as a person. karim: everyday after

of coal from north korea. and seriously considering whether north korea, a serial offender, is qualified as a member of the united nations, as well as downgrading diplomatic relations with north korea. let me be clear, our goal is not bringing north korea to its knees, but to bring it back to the negotiating table for denuclearization. we must be clear-eyed about pyongyang's intent. it's not interested in negotiating for denuclearization. instead, its game plan is to be recognized as a nuclear weapons state and to negotiate nuclear disarmament as such. just last week the north korean deputy permanent representative to the united nations himself made it clear that any denuclearization talks are a nonstarter. under these circumstances, dialogue for the sake of dialogue cannot be an option. if history teaches us anything, it's that we must never repeat the tried and failed approach of the past 20-some years we have left no stone unturned, yet negotiations and agreements with this rule breaker have led us nowhere

north korea pushed back. tension is a important for north korea to explain to its own citizens why they're living and why they can't have unity and united states central to regimes reason to exist. when trump pushes, most of us expect the north koreans to push right back. that's what we're doing. >> we're having sound issues and always good to have you here and just from the side note on that we're covering the door is closed there on the other side. robert, thank you so much for being with us. >> yes, his kids did make him famous. >>> back to the seriousness of this news day. a bombing in afghanistan, military strikes in syria and ramping up threats to north korea. donald trump isn't taking a soft approach on foreign policy. we'll look at all the drastic changes coming up next here. >>> plus, turkey is one day away from a vote that could overhaul its political system. why germany's finance minister is issuing a stark warning. that story ahead as "cnn newsroom" continues. look, she's sweet, she's got natural

but the way china has gone after south korea for the fact that south korea and the u.s. agreed to put in an anti-ballistic missile system, the way china has gone after south korea and try to punish them is not a good way to treat neighbors, who after all are going to be there for the next 1000 years. charlie: i assume they are against that because they think it questions their own use of weapons if they should find it in the national interest to do so. >> i think from china's point of view, putting in the so-called terminal high aerial defense system has a very robust radar. the chinese are worrying, although nominally it is there to deal with the north korean threat, ultimately it gets information against china such that it would diminish china's own deterrence. the chinese worry about those kinds of things. if they want to worry about them, they ought to talk to us about them and the south koreans and not just try to make life miserable for the south korean state, which after all is going through tough times. the president was impeached and now in prison. they have an

or being tough on north korea? would you say the south korean president says that back on future american policies with north korea? .. then he originally was during the campaign. thank you. >> thank you. both very good restaurants. let me try to address them. let me start before answering directly. it is in the interest of the united states and china to continue to find ways to deepen and broaden our cooperation and leadership as we compete in different areas and have differences in areas. that's the underlying premise of everything i would say. nothing could be more important in my judgment for the peace, prosperity and progress of the next decade than getting that relationship right. >> having said that, look, on north korea, i wish that a softer approach, what the south koreans pursued with the sunshine policy could produce results. if we thought it could, then we would advocate pursuing it. we've seen no evidence, unfortunately, to the contrary with the north korean leader with an interest on the part of north

i want to begin with breaking news on north korea. joining me now cnn chief national correspondent and reuters white correspondent who reported this story. jeff i'm going to start with you. you interviewed president trump at the white house. the president is telling you that we could see a major conflict with north korea. let's listen. >> well, there's a chance that we could end up having a major, major conflict with north korea. absolutely. >> can you tell us more about this interview. what's he talking about? military engagement on the korean peninsula. >> he indicated the seriousness of the conflictwell north korea and made it clear military options is something president trump is considering seriously that coming in the context of having said they're going to work on diplomacy. did say that would be their preference but in the interview he said it's difficult and it clearly is. >> he says he prefers diplomatic outcome but did he give any indication how that could be accomplished? >> he didn't. but that's clearly something the admi

do we know what to do when it comes to north korea? do we know what north korea wants? do we know their motive or missiles part of an end game which is larger? let's discuss. cnn reporter will ripley with extensive reporting. and victor chia. he served during the bush administration. will, the sources in north korea. do they see this as another flexing of north korean might or is there a suggestion that something more nefarious is afoot? >> reporter: look, north korea is all-in when it comes to the missile program and nuclear program. every time i go into the country, i hear the same thing. they believe they have the right to be recognized as a nuclear state. they will do that at any cost. despite international saknction, the last to be put are the nuclear programs. the two big issues next week. this could be the opening act. the legislative gathering. the supreme people's assembly. on saturday, the biggest holiday of the year. the day of the sun. it is around the major events we see provocative acts like a nuclear test or icbm launch. >> thank you for that. the questio

, does that gives some comfort to those in south korea? well, the thing about seoul is that people go about their business. there is no sense of panic buying or people trying to get out of the city because south koreans have lived with this situation since 1953. the situation of absolutely fearsome rhetoric from the north about destroying the south, which never turns into out out war. it sometimes turns into out out war. it sometimes turns into out out war. it sometimes turns into military action, but not com plete turns into military action, but not complete war. this is different. they are clearly much more advanced in the potency of their new arsenal and have tested nuclear warheads five times. people still assume it will not happen. what we do not know is donald trump's policy. his words indicate he will not allow it. it will not happen. he does not want north korea to get the ability to strike the us. but some briefings from the administration recently indicate that the policy may actually turn out to be pretty well what the obama pol

strategic relations with several countries korea,ng china, south north korea, and india. from capitol hill, this hearing is about 2.5 hours. >> the committee meets his way to receive testimony on you as policy ends strategy in the asia-pacific region. i am pleased to welcome our panel of expert witnesses come all with deep knowledge and experience in the region. the senior adviser and korea chair at the center for strategic and international studies. aaron friedberg who is the professor of politics and international affairs at princeton university. and the former principal deputy assistant secretary of defense for asia pacific security -- irs and senior fellow am having trouble with my enunciation. strategic affairs at the endowment for international peace, an old friend of the committee. america's interest in asia-pacific region are deep and enduring, that is why for the past 70 years we have worked with our allies and partners to up hold a rules-based order based on principles of free peoples and free markets, open skies, theen resolution of disputes. the challenges are

from north korea. let me just ask, can american military forces in that region defend themselves against missiles launched from north korea? >> mr. chairman, absolutely. there was an article that came out this morning from one of the outlets that suggested that the carl vinson strike group -- i think it's appropriate we're talking about carl vinson in this room, the carl vinson room. the strike group with his incredible capability to include destroyers and the cruiser, that somehow that that carrier strike group would not be able to defend itself against ballistic missiles. i believe that article and the articles like that are both misleading and they conflate apples and oranges if you will. we have ballistic missile ships in the sea of japan that are capable of defending against ballistic missile attacks. north korea does not have a ballistic missile anti-ship weapon that would threaten the carl vinson strike group. the weapons that north korea would put against the carl vinson strike group are easily

here's our top stories: defiance as north korea test—fires another ballistic missile. the us says the world must do more to curb its nuclear ambitions. failing to act now on the most pressing security issue in the world may bring catastrophic consequences. violence across brazil after the country's first general strike in 20 years. millions are protesting over proposed changes to pensions. as president trump approaches his 100th day in office, we report from ohio, where some say he's sparked a rust belt revival. france's national front replaces its leader for the second time in just three days following controversial comments about the holocaust. hello and welcome to bbc news. in the last few hours, the us military and south korean officials have confirmed that north korea fired a ballistic missile which exploded shortly after launch. the failed test, reportedly from near an airfield in pukcchang, camejust hours after a special session at the un security council in which the us pushed for tougher sanctions on the pyongyang regime. barbara plett—usher has this report

we have troops in south korea. we have allies in japan and south korea. also, really, what is our vested interest? i think the administration with their differing voices need to come together and stop sending mixed messages to americans, let alone overseas. saying we're not going to talk anymore, tillerson saying, we want to talk to you, trump talking about a major, major conflict. i think people, it makes them very anxious, and i think they need to sing from the same tune, they need to be consistent, not only because the chinese, the south koreans, the japanese and others in the region need to hear it, but i think byron makes a good point, the voters here need to hear it as well plates .1 clarification on this particular missile. the cayenne 17 is a -- dn-17 we will continue to monitor this breaking news. this is day 99 of the trump presidency. we'll talk about the first 100. martha maccallum's interview, which comes up at 7:00 p.m. tonight, after the break. ♪ you supported him through four years of undergrad... and medical school. it's no wonder he sa

korea. a naval aircraft group is currently heading towards waters off of the u.s. peninsula. he will be testifying about u.s. military readiness. arizona senator john mccain is the chairman of the armed services committee. it should start in just a moment. >>> good morning. senate arms services committee meets to receive information on u.s. forces in korea. admiral harris, i appreciate your appearance and your area of responsibility. i want to express the appreciation for the services of men and women you lead who defend our nation every day. america's interest are deep and enduring. that's why for the past 70 years we have worked to uphold a rules based order based on the principals of free markets, open seas and open skies and peaceful resolution of disputes. these ideas have produced unprecedented peace and prosperi prosperity. now the challenge threatens the united states as well. the most immediate threat is a situation on the korean peninsula, kim jong un's regime has thrown its full w

korea, north korea depends heavily on the patronage of china. they have been reluctant in the past to become involved in this situation. i'm happy to see that they are now taking an active role. >> the u.s. moves in terms of its military now very close to north korea. >> yeah. >> is this a good or bad thing? how is it working out on this day? >> well, i think we speed to look at what president trump is doing, not simply in the context of north korea but throughout the world. it is clear that what has happened is some of our enemies have tried to test this new president. you saw in january where the national security council put the iranians on notice. you saw the response to the syrian provocation and you're seeing the response to the north korean provocation. my view is that this is a president that is drawing the new red lines and telling these nations how far they can go and how far they can't go. and that's a good thing for america. >> all right. retired brigadier mark kimmit, thank you. appreciate that. >>> one of the biggest issues as the

north korea has nuclear weapons and they have tested them several times. they are making determined significant investments in advancing their missile capability. you have to take a country that has both of those capabilities and threatens the united states very seriously. >> is there any progress in putting north korea back on the state-sponsored terrorist list? >> was the most surprising thing you heard the briefing today? was there anything you learned today that you didn't know previously? >> yes. >> i'm optimistic that china increasingly sees it in their national interest to reassess the north korea's intentions. china's long-held policy -- the united states withdrew its weapons and only with chinese leadership will north korea's weapons be -- spain what do you think about that now after sitting through the briefing? should this have been done on the hill. >> 's i'm fine coming here. the security team wants to provide a detailed -- the threat that north korea poses to our allies in the region is real and this requires us to act in a nonpartisan way an

the issue is that north korea is important because of seoul, korea. on the dmz. 15,000 artillery pieces. problem is for us to do anything. north korea will still get a massive strike on a defenseless 10 million city. seoul is held hostage for anything that is done in north korea. judge jeanine: what colonel hunt is saying we are literally held hostage to an attack if he finds out by the. he meaning jim jong-un because he will take out seoul, south korea and our vice president pence is hours away from landing in seoul, south korea. is that how it would happen? >> that's the narrative. but we know exactly where those hardened artillery sites are. we have their latitude and congress tude with gps. we have ways of attacking those sites. you can imagine if five or six moabs were dropped in an area over there, and we had b2s that can drop 8,500 pound bombs independently targeted. in addition the readiness of those artillery sites, they don't fire. they aren't exercising them. they have been there for years. there is a readiness issue. judge jeanine: colonel

china has north korea. so they are obligated by treaty to have this kind of a relationship in north korea. 80 percent of north korea's economy is based on china. exports primarily. so 80 percent of their economy is based on china. i believe that is a significant leverage that china can employ if it so chose to against north korea. >> thank you. i appreciate your service once again mr. chairman. >> mr. larson. >> thank you, mr. chairman. you were able to come talk to several of us lester and i appreciate that. i want to explore a little more based on the comments made. specific to the military said. we discussed the state department's role, the treasury's role in with regards to north korea. i am wondering do you have any assessment about china's relationship with dp rk on the military side. if there is influence or if you are aware of any influence that the pla can play in regards to pursuing more advanced - and testing. >> i'm not aware of the various -- >> okay. related as well to our relationship for wha

to deal with north korea. our global in economics policy editor kathleen hays for more on this treasury report. what did we learn? we were expecting china would get a pass up to those comments we saw from trump last week. >> he said he was not going to brand china a currency manipulator, but the report does not let china off the hook. country a no major currency manipulator, but several on the watchlist. it is south korea, japan, taiwan, germany, and switzerland. it is not just asian nations, europe as well. here are the criteria for labeling a country occurrence in the later. have a material trade surplus as a percent of your of gdp. china is 1.8% of gdp, germany is 8%, much more trade dependent germany is than china. you have to have a significant surplus with the u.s.. that is where china falls short. you have to be intervening to weaken your currency, and china has turned around on that. #5913 puts this china surplus with the u.s., the trade deficit, in perspective, and those yellow bars are the trade defi

you are acr korea expert. how important is it to use the whole of government to maintain stability in the region? we don't have very much information about what goes on in kim jong-un's mind. it is challenging enough regarding our complicated relationship with china. in terms of stability in this part of the world, would you also support this initiative by the way, at sea and how we can do more of a whole of government approach? >> i think those two questions are completely connected to each other in terms of our effectiveness in getting china to do more or signal to north korea the credibility of our deterrence or any of our policies greatly depends on whether the region sees us as committing to it and having staying power. as aaron mentioned in his testimony, there is a grand game taking place in asia where the chinese are trying to erode u.s. credibility, reliability and resiliency in the region and replacing it with the fact that they are there, they are big and they have a lot of money in their pocket. >>

that is the view in north korea, what about in south korea? the bbc‘s steve evans is in the south korean capital seoul. speaking to me a little earlier he gave us this update on how the country has reacted to what's happened north of the border. i don't think there is any sense here that people expect anything to happen. we've lived in this kind of state of fearsome rhetoric and threats from pyongyang pretty well since 1953 and the tension goes up and comes down. if you go out on the streets here people go about their business, there is no panic buying, nobody is preparing to go out of the city for example and 25 million people live in this region within range of north korean artillery. the us embassy, business as usual, the us embassy is not warning citizens to leave, for example, so the assumption of ordinary people is that this is another spate, another spat between pyongyang and washington and seoul which will come to nothing. but as john pointed out, the different element in all of this is the new president in the white house who is tal

south korea. the evacuation of besieged towns in syria has resumed, following yesterday's suicide attack targeting evacuees. more than 100 people were killed. also in the next hour, turkey goes to the polls in a landmark referendum. president erdogan cast his vote this morning in a bid to bring in new sweeping powers that could keep him in office potentially for another 12 years. theresa may urges unity over brexit, as she delivers her first easter message as prime minister. and the queen has beenjoined by several members of the royal family including the duke and duchess of cambridge for an easter service at windsor castle. and coming up at 1.30, the travel show heads to thailand to see the world's first elephant hospital. good afternoon and welcome to bbc news. the us vice—president, mike pence, has told american servicemen in south korea that the country's resolve to stand by seoul has never been stronger. the us vice—president arrived in south korea just hours after the north tried and fai

remember, with korea, north korea, there are no good answers. it is not like there is one you say oh my gosh, nobody thought of this before. all the answers are bad. some are less bad than others. >> shannon: a lot of folks in the briefing the other night, the senate briefing agreed there was no consensus about anything that is good. it's all bad. which is the lesser of the evils. do we want to listen in? he is doing welcoming remarks. we have somebody else talking. we'll keep talking until we get to that. so this seems to be one of those things where we talk about the u.n., a lot of friction with the u.s. saying no more anti-israel bias. this would seem to be the kind of thing they could be unified on, this particular topic. >> north korea has no friends with the cuban regime sort of fading out, the axis of dirt bags has gotten a lot smaller. >> shannon: dirt bags. >> the really bad states. the intentional rogue states. venezuela is in its own situation. iran is trying to play very nice right now. so north korea has found itself in the universe

korea's failed missile test. it was actually within an hour of taking off after refuelling in alaska that he was told. his advisers came back and told those of us reporters on his plane that it failed within four or five seconds of the attempt and that's why they made clear that they were not going to make a big deal out of it. their response was going to be to downplay it. that's certainly what we saw from the vice president himself. his first remarks here on the ground in south korea was in and around having easter dinner with u.s. troops. and he talked vague well about what happened. >> this morning's provocation from the north is just the latest reminder of the risks each one of you face every day in the defense of the freedom of the people of south korea and the defense of america in this part of the world. >> that's a far cry from the really tough talk we've seen and heard from the president, president trump both in his words before cameras and on twitter over the past week or so being very aggressive vis-a

and north korea now at an all-time dangerous high. >> north korea is a problem. the problem will be taken care of. >> reporter: but just what that means, unclear. >> the era of strategic patience is over. >> reporter: in south korea vice president pence visiting the dmz, delivering a warning of his own. >> just in the past few the world witnessed the resolve and the strength of the united states. >> reporter: nearly 30,000 american troops are currently stationed in south korea. we visited one key base just 48 miles from the border. here, they are at the ready. their slogan -- fight tonight. there aren't many places i go into where it says "fight tonight" in giant letters. >> absolutely. >> reporter: that's a little frightening. >> absolutely. but for us it's our day-to-day training because we don't know when that call is going to come. >> reporter: as for the commander- in-chief, the white house says he's holding his cards close to the vest. >> i don't think that you're going to see the president drawing red lines in the sand. >> reporter: today when asked his ne

day billions to north korea -- the u.s. gave billions to north korea [indiscernible] sen. coons: of course. sure i understood what you said. without chinese action, we are unlikely to be successful in constraining north koreas nuclear ambitions. there are military preparations underway that were mentioned during the briefing. can you expand on what the sense of that are leading part of a broader package? sen. coons: there is a lot on --ugh into real group there's a lot on leading into the group. i think those are all necessary measures because the level of threat is real. our south korean and japanese allies have a reason to be concerned about their safety and concern and to significant array of north korean both conventional weapons and other potential threats are very real. i'm very comfortable that forward deployment is an appropriate piece of the strategy that makes military preparedness secondary to diplomacy. our diplomacy will not be successful unless -- military action now as opposed to when you went into the meeting? sen. coons: i would say i was reassured that th