>> it is highly unclear as to whether or not he has the ability to be able to think this thing through in a way that avoids an actual military showdown between the united states and north korea. >> reporter: one thing the white house says it won't do is draw a red line with north korea, to define just how far the country can go in it's provocations. a red line didn't work in syria. >> does the president have a red line when it comes to north korea, that if they cross it they will bring about some kind of military response from the u.s.? >> i think what we talked about, the use of red lines in the past with respect to syria, that drawing red lines hasn't really worked in the past. he holds his cards close to the vest and you're not going to hear him talking about how he's