that's a brutal regime, and we'll be able to handle it. >> what does the president mean by "handle it"? let's bring in paula hancocks from seoul. what are the options for the white house? >> reporter: dave, the options today are exactly the same as the options were yesterday. partly sunny n -- it is not an ideal situation. we could see the white house and u.s. officials meeting with chinese officials in washington pushing for more help from beijing. donald trump has insisted all along that it's beijing that holds the key to this problem, that they can pressure north korea into dismantling the nuclear missile program and potentially helping with detainees in north korea. there is a problem -- there are still three americans being held in north korea at this time. there are two academics who are working at the pyongyang university of science and technology, and one businessman