paula hancocks live in seoul. thanks. >>> an investigation underway in texas after 17 undocumented immigrants were found locked inside a tractor-trailer. authorities were tipped off from someone in mexico who reported a relative trapped with other immigrants inside a hot trailer. officers found 14 men and three women when they arrived at this truck stop in edinburgh, texas. the victims are from a range of countries including mexico, guatemala, honduras, and romania. two people in the trailer have been detained. u.s. customs and border protection is investigating. >>> ahead, while the u.s.-led coalition takes on the capital of isis, syria's army is picking up their fight against the terror group. we're live near the front lines next. speak now. (coughs) so sorry. oh no... it's just that your friend daryl here is supposed to be live streaming the wedding and he's not getting any service. i missed, like, the whole thing. what? and i just got an unlimited plan. it's the right plan, wrong network. you see, verizon has

>> paula hancocks live for us in seoul. thanks. >>> this morning, china is threatening to retaliate now that president trump's chief negotiator has been asked to discover whether an investigation of beijing's trade practices is needed. it could lead the president to impose tariffs on chinese imports. the administration turning the screws on china in order to get more cooperation, perhaps, on the north korea kriecrisis. we'll bring in cnn's david mckenzie live from hong kong. this was a big campaign promise from the president. day one he said he was going to hold china to account for what he said are unfair trade practices and stealing from the economy. what's the view from the chinese? >> the chinese have said they're expressing grave concern about the moves. they are deliberate moves, it has to be said. even if they do decide in the u.s. to investigate formally chinese practices, particularly the alleged stealing of intellectual property rights, amongst u.s. companies that are working in china by the chinese, it will take

you had paula hancocks teeing up what's happening in north korea. this story in charlottesville isn't just about our humanity. it's going to reverberate once again as a reflection of the president's ability to empower his agenda. this is going to take up space and rightly say. >> words matter and especially when you're the president of the united states. thank you. ♪ ♪ i'm... i'm so in love with you. ♪ ♪ whatever you want to do... ♪ ...is alright with me. ♪ ooo baby let's... ♪ ...let's stay together... ♪ [brother] any last words? [boy] karma, danny... ...karma! [vo] progress is seizing the moment. your summer moment awaits you, now that the summer of audi sales event is here. audi will cover your first month's lease payment on select models during the summer of audi sales event. t-mobile announces zero down for all. now, get the whole family the hottest smartphone brands like samsung galaxy for zero down. plus, get 4 unlimited lines for 40 bucks a month, taxes and fees included. more reasons why t-mobile is america's best unlimited n

paula hancocks live in seoul with the latest. these are not typical in terms of how they will appear, correct? >> reporter: well, these particular military drills are very different to what we see in the springtime between the u.s. and south korea. there you have thousands of troops landing on south korean beaches. you have massive live-fire drills which are extremely dramatic, very dramatic pictures that north korea is provoked by. this time the ones in the autumn, in the fall, are a computer simulation. you have, according to the u.s. military, around about 17,500 u.s. troops involved alongside south korean soldiers, alongside soldiers from seven other countries of the u.n. command, as well. according to the u.s. secretary of defense james mattis, effectively soldiers sitting over a computer. so we're not going to see those dramatic pictures that we often do with these military drills. now of course north korea is still reacting to them. they have said, as you said, that they think it's reckless behavior. it's pushing the penin

cnn paula hancocks live in seoul south korea with more. paula. >> hello renae. well there was condemnation from the united nations calling the missile launch across japan on tuesday outrageous actions. but the fact is words don't really harm north korea. the leader has shone he is remarkably adept at ignoring international condemnation just as his father and grandfather was. we've heard from the state run media today that this is just the first step of the military operation in the pacific. north korea saying this was a meaningful prelude on a operation on guam. they've made many threats towards guam certainly in recent months it's been a focus for north korea. now we know the leaders of japan and south korea have spoken by phone, they've discussed this. the leader of japan shinzo abe saying that he believes north korea has made it clear this is not the time for dialogue, not something that the south korean president would like to hear. he favors dialogue but certainly he said this was more than just a provocation. this was violence against a neighbor. now we ha

paula hancocks joins us live with the latest. good morning to you. we know they were urged to take cover in japan. what has been the reaction there in seoul? >> reporter: that's right. this really was a serious escalation from north korea. a missile that flew 1,700 miles from just outside pyongyang. the capital, which was unusual, over japan and broke into three pieces before hitting the pacific ocean. just over 700 miles east of hokkaido. the island. no on the island, residents were woken up after 6:00 a.m. local time by sirens, by alerts from the government, telling them to take shelter. a scary situation because of the north korean missile. japanese prime minister shinzo abe has been reacting far more strongly. he's said it's the most serious and grave threat ever to his country. he's spoken on the phone to the u.s. president, donald trump, and says that mr. trump has told him once again that the u.s. is 100% behind japan. now from south korea's point of view, they've condemned the launch. they've also come up with a more military response. we've

cnn's paula hancock is life now in seoul. is it having any impact there in north korea? >> reporter: absolutely not. and to be honest, i don't think it's expected to. kim jong-un has a remarkable ability to ignore international condemnation. we've heard from north korea through state run media. they have said that this was effectively, this missile launch over japan was the first step of a military operation in the pacific saying it's just a prelude to what they will do, an operation surrounding guam. of course guam has really been a focus of north korean threats over the recent weeks. it's threatened guam many times in the past but certainly recently it has pinpointed that as the target of its rhetoric pt we heard from guam officials say this was under no way a threat to them. this missile launch over japan. we know the leaders in japan and also south korea spoke by phone. they said they have to do the absolute maximum to try and put pressure on north korea. prime minister of japan saying it's clear that north korea has no interest in dialog at this point. obviously not

. >> cnn's paula hancocks is live this hour in seoul, south korea. so, paula, whether the u.s. is interested in diplomacy, whether it's not, right now it seems the north koreans are the one for the time being who have been consistent about this. they have no interest at all in sitting down and talking. >> john, it's interesting you used that word "consistent." that's certainly what the feeling over here is. there is an assumption amongst experts and officials in the region that north korea would be willing to talk, but only on its own terms. we have seen consistently, from north korea, that they want to perfect their nuclear and missile program. they've said they will continue these missile launches. they have continued them. they said they will do more nuclear tests and we are waiting for number six at this point. certainly there is an assumption that they would be willing to negotiate with washington. we've heard that from beijing a number of times, but they have said they have no intention of denuclearizing, of giving up their nuclear weapons. it would be on their terms. and

paula hancocks live in seoul with the latest. good morning to you, paula. >> reporter: there is a sense of pullback in north korea. it depends on what we're hearing -- at this point, kim jong-un has reviewed plans and is going to wait and see what the americans do, potentially talking about next week when there are u.s./south korean military drills going on for ten days. they happen every year in time of year. they are defensive in nature, according to the u.s. north korea does not see them that way. they see them as provocative, as a dress rehearsal for an invasion. so they could well react to those. we heard from general dunford monday evening in seoul that they will go ahead as planned. we've heard from the south korean president, moon jae-in hours ago, liberation day in north and south korea. liberation from japanese occupation 72 years ago. one i think that the north and south koreans agree on. he said there will not be a second korean war as long as he is in power. >> tensions certainly remain high. paula hancocks live in s

poppy, back to you. >> paula hancocks, thank you very much. joining us rear admiral john dir by and daily beast columnist, author of "north korea takes on the world," nice to have you both. the message from the administration this weekend is diplomacy above all. you had dunford coming out of that meeting today and saying the priority of the u.s. military is to support a peaceful resolution to the north korean crisis, is this the president trying to tamp down his own rhetoric from last week? >> i think a lot of what we've seen since the fire and fury comment has been senior cabinet officials and administration officials trying to put context ar tlund and absolutely push the diplomacy forward. you saw that with mattis last week, certainly seeing it from general dunford today in south korea. that's the appropriate approach here. i think there's still room for diplomacy and economic pressure to work. i think they're approaching this the right way. to me it's a little like they're acting as sandpaper. >> gordon chang, you disagree, you read the op

for the very latest let's turn to our paula hancocks in seoul, south korea. that tweet, how is that going over there in north korea? any reaction? >> well, rene, some news to bring you first of all. we understand that there has just been a show of force from the u.s. and the south korean air force. we understand eight jets were involved. there were two b-1b bombers from guam. there were four f-35bs from japan u.s. jets with a couple of fighter jets from the korean side. they carried out a bombing drill here in south korea. they said that they were trying to strike the enemy's key facilities, saying that this was to strongly counter north korea's repeated ballistic missile tests and the development of nuclear weapons there is something we often see between the u.s. and south korea, a show of force against what they see as the north korean provocations. now, as you say, the leaders of the u.s. and also japan have spoken once again. another phone call twice in two days. and they say they agree on what they have to do. but they haven't specified what they will do

let's get straight now to cnn international correspondent paula hancocks live in seoul. this threat comes hours before the beginning of military drills between the u.s. and south korea? >> that's right. >> reporter: it is monday when these u.s. south korean military drills start and every time there is military drills, north korea react and up the ante and are infur yiated about these drills. we have heard them suggest this is pushing korea to a nuclear war. we have heard this before but we are starting from a much higher level of tensions than we have been in previous years. we also heard from an article in a north korean state-run newspaper. they mentioned vice president pence by name as well talking about when he was asking latin american countries to stop their support or any dealings with north korea and they call that a selfishness, arrogance, and outrageous interference so a special mention for the u.s. and not happy what he is saying as well. when you look at the drills that start on monday, they carry on for ten days. we hear from the you there will be about 17,

. >> paula hancock is live in seoul, and david mackenzie standing by in hong kong. paula we know this meeting is set to take place in the next 15 or 20 minutes with the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff and the south korean president. what more can you tell us about what's expected and why this is such an important meeting? >> reporter: george it's important from the south korean side to know the u.s. thinks the same way they do. over the last week you've seen some strong remarks from the u.s. president donald trump whereas in this side, the south korean side, would like to see more diplomacy, and a chance for the economic sanctions to work. so i think that's what the president will be looking for. we heard from the south korean president he had a special advisors meeting and he did urge north korea to immediately halt all provocations saying if north korea did decide to take the right path and make the right choice they would see improvements in korean relations and developments in those exchanges. also saying the south korean preparations of a contingency plan

paula hancock is live in seoul, south korea. paula, given the rhetoric we saw a week ago, talk to us about the sensitivity if there is any heightened sensitivity involved in what's happening. >> george, the sort of remarks that we're hearing from north korea at this point are as expected. they happen very often just before a joint military job between u.s. and south korea. we started at a heightened level of contention given the strong remask back and forth between the u.s. president and north korea. there is concern at the heightened level that we're looking at. we have heard common remarks from president moon of south korea saying that there will be no second korean war on the peninsula just this morning talking to the cabinet he said it was very important note that these drills are defensive. let's listen to what he said. >> translator: there's no intent at all it heighten military tension on the korean peninsula as these drills are handled annually. north korea shouldn't use exercises as an excuse. >> we also heard from the

i want to bring in paula hancock and barbara starr. paula, i want to start with you. first, the international reaction. >> john, there's certainly been strong condemnation in this neck of the woods. we have had fury from shinzo abe saying this is the greatest threat to his country. residents of the island in japan after 6:00 local time were woken up by sirens and alerts to take cover, take shelter because of the missile. we have seen a rather unusual response from south korea. we saw a bombing drill from the air force. remember, there's a fairly liberal president in power who wants dialogue in north korea, but called for a strong response to the missile launch. we saw four f-15 fighter jets dropping eight bombs on a shooting range. the dialogue is they are showing their capability of destroying the enemies leaderships. a very clear message to the north korea leader, kim jong-un that south korea can respond in kind, if need be. we know u.s. secretary of state, rex tillerson spoke to the foreign minister and tillerson did say he was disappointed that this has happened,

let's bring in paula hancocks for the latest developments. >> reporter: well, we're hearing these calls for dialog for an awful lot of different sectors atz this point as you say. the u.s. secretary of state calling for it. overnight we've also heard china saying put on the brakes when it comes to these provocative actions between the u.s. and north korea. we're also hearing china and russia saying the same thing. they've said there is no ol alternative when it comes to the nuclear issue. russia also saying that any threats or force against north korea are quote, unacceptable. we have heard from north korea today through the newspaper, they have slammed south korea for calling for dialog at the same time as pushing these sanctions through with the united states and also carrying out military drills with the united states. so next week there are military drills between the u.s. and south korea and north korea is also angered by them. these are less visual than usual. you're not going to see thousands of u.s. marines in a landing on the south korean coast. it's more computer simulation an

. >> paula hancock thank you for the update. >>> north korea is issuing these new threats, president trump is returning to washington today to a freshly renovated white house. it has been an eventful working vacation, to say the very least, for the president. >> this morning, we want to take stock of really what has happened since the president left a little more than two weeks ago. first, the president threatened a nuclear war. he then doubled down on an idea saying there were, quote, many fine people among the white supremacists and kkk marchers. >>> president trump tweeted it was his idea to shut them down. barcelona attack, the president tweeted a false story about a u.s. military officer mass murdering prisoners of war by shooting them with bullets dipped in pig's blood and leading a republican senator to question whether the president has the stability and competence to succeed. now you'll also remember the president fired his chief strategist steve bannon. so where does this administration go from here? let's talk about it. errol louis is joining us and sarah westwood of the w

let's listen to this, paula. we can talk about it here in a moment. >> north korea best not make any more threats to the united states. they will be met with fire and fury like the world has never seen. >> the question, was that an off-the-cuff remark, a planned remark. still not entirely known. here's the deal. these joint military exercises are set to take place between south korea and the u.s. the north is threatening again. what is the feeling there in south korea, paula, with this rhetoric again heating up? >> well, george, the kind of threats we're seeing from this article, it's nothing new. we have consistently heard from north korea when tensions are a little higher that they're accusing the united states of pushing the peninsula to the brink of a nuclear war. this is what they're doing once again, saying specifically about these military drills, this reckless behavior as they call it, is the reason for these increased tensions. now, we do have the u.s./south korean joint military drills starting on monda