james mattis issued a attorney warning to north korea today. >> very serious minded in comparison to what we saw from others. the secretary of defense, let me read some of what he said, very, very stearn. saying, and i quote "the dprk should cease any consideration of actions that would lead to the end of its regime and the destruction of its people. the dprk's actions will be grossly overmatched by ours, and would lose any arms race or conflict it initiates." perhaps look at that last word, conflict it initiates, the secretary making very clear he's not going to -- the u.s. is not going to tolerate north korea launching an attack. >> but secretary of state rex tillerson today seemed to be trying to dial down the temperature in the wake of the president's comments yesterday. >> reporter: right. everyone is wondering, is this the good cop, bad cop routine.