People, as rescuers race against time to save survivors who might still be trapped underneath the rubble. The secret Service Agent who was just feet away from jfk during his assassination now breaking his silence, revealing in new detail could rewrite the narrative. This hour of cnn this morning starts right now. We begin on the Breaking News this morning, kim jongun appearing to be on his way to russia right now, to meet vladimir putin, a south korean Government Official tells cnn it looks like the north korean dictator is headed there on a train that departed from pyongyang. Moments ago, the kremlin and north korean state media confirmed the meeting would happen soon, but would not specify exactly when. Youll remember last week, u. S. Intelligence warned that kim was planning to meet with putin to discuss supplying weapons for the war in ukraine, in exchange for satellite and Nuclear Submarine technology. Joining us now, former north korean analyst for the cia, sumi tari. Thanks so much for being here and for your time. This is an incredibly consequential meeting. U. S. Officials had been warning about this meeting. Now that we know its in the midst of happening. First of all, i think the Biden Administration leaked intelligence about their meeting, so we can do that, because well have a lot of leverage with north korea, because talks with poyongyang hs completely broken down. Whats very concerning is the transfer of technology. Not only that north korea is now going to be a supplier of ammu ammunition, its russias technology for north koreas missile program. Thats very concerning. You know, it is ironic and pathetic in a way that north korea is now resorting to asking aid from, you know, asking north koreas help on this, but i think its, you know, north korea has a Runaway Nuclear program. They need technology for nuclearpowered submarines, for their satellites and so on. So if this exchange, this operation is very concerning. I think its also fascinating and i wonder about the broader impact of this pariah state being needed. Its now needed by russia in its war on ukraine, and how that changes kim jonguns mindset, emboldens him, as he gains this new Weapons Technology from russia. Does it make north korea more dangerous . Its absolutely right. This is what i was saying about putin. Russia is supposed to be a patron of north korea, not asking 198th ranked economy in the world who cannot feed its own population, for help. But north korea loves to play china off russia. So, whats interesting is what chinas response is going to be all about this, because its going to make north korea less dependent on china, if you can also rely on russia for aid and technology and so on. Well see what chinas reaction is. But, yes, kim jongun is, he already the environment was favorable for north korea, in terms of their Nuclear Missile program, expanding it, united nations, Security Council could not do absolutely anything about this, because russia and china refused to help, refused to implement sanctions, and refused to pressure north korea. So, yes, absolutely, kim jongun is important and theres absolutely no repercussions for his actions. Can you step back into poppys great point and question there, kim jongun leaving the country, not something that happens very often. Last time he hung out with putin was in 2019. Him leaving, what does this say about him . Can you tell people kind of who he is, hes known as a hermitlike leader and a hermitlike kingdom to some degree. North korea is one of the most isolated countries in the world and their leaders dont like to leave the country and they dont like to fly. Often, they take trains. Remember that hanoi summit where kim jongun rode 70 hours on a train to go meet with President Trump and come back. I think it says that hes now feeling a little more relaxed, right, during covid years, north korea was completely on lock do lockdown. And now hes going out and wants to act like a normal leader of a normal country and we know hes not a normal leader of a normal country. We appreciate it. Thank you for all of the analysis. Joining us now is a former European Affairs director, retired Army Lieutenant colonel, alexander vindman, thanks so much for your time. I want to start there before we dig in on ukraine, the idea of what were seeing and what it means near term and longer term with this meeting between these two leaders. Whats your sense of things . Thanks for having me on, so i wouldnt overstate too much what this meeting means. Certainly, it means that putin is in somewhat of a desperate situation, trying to acquire munitions that are severely depleted during this war effort. A lot of this would be have been coordinated ahead of time. Its not entirely clear what the koreans are getting, probably something in the form of advanced technologies. Probably something in the form of hard currency. Whats striking to me is that putin didnt attend either the bricks summit, the South Africans said that they couldnt guarantee the fact that they wouldnt take action against them. He didnt attend the g20, but hes meeting, flying all the way from moscow to vladivostok to meet kim jongun. Not a good turn of events for someone who positions himself as a world leader. But i think the fact is that the ukrainians are going to see some north korean munitions arrive in the war effort. I would like your take on the language that was agreed on for the communique out of the g20, which was strikingly different when it comes to russias War On Ukraine Last year when there was an outright condemnation. The United States and others supporting that were not able to get that out of the g20. Nikki haley was very critical of that in her interview with jake yesterday. She called it a win for russia and china. Is she right . I think its interesting its definitely not optimal with regards to russia, ukraine, it is the most critical geopolitical challenge the u. S. Faces. But the fact is that the u. S. Has global interests. It is looking longterm to balance against china and this was in a lot of ways a very successful g20. A lot of other Business Being handled. What they decided to do was not spoil longterm objectives with a communique that could have derailed, you know, the rest of the bargains that were struck. So it is somebody that watches russia and ukraine very closely, i would have expected to see a much, much firmer stance. But in terms of substance, there was a lot that the president delivered, and frankly, the u. S. Continues to provide support. The west continues to provide support. The language itself probably shouldnt have been the obstacle to the agenda. So its worth it, net net, is what youre saying. What he got out of the trip is worth it, even if you cant get these words . I think it is a probably an indication of the fact that the u. S. Wasnt in as dominant a position as it may have been historically. Some of the power has shifted to other members of the g20. The u. S. Is still the most important player in that organization. So i would have liked to see a much stronger language. I think we probably could have gotten away with it, but i think we did okay. I think we did quite well on balance. The relationships the strengthened relationships with vietnam, the kinds of bargains that were struck with the indians, probably makes its on balance, worth it. I was struck yesterday by general mark milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs Of Staff putting a timeline in the middle of the counteroffensive, in the middle of the summer, that different weather, a different climate is coming soon in the war in ukraine, saying about 30 to 45 days left before Rainy Weather patterns start to hamper the ongoing counteroffensive. What does that mean to you . You know, its interesting that we tend to think about Campaign Seasons. Somewhat of a bit of an antiquated notion about when its effective to fight, when its not effective to fight. A lot of our leadership have experienced Campaign Seasons in the wars in iraq and afghanistan. There are winter lulls. I dont know if i would expect that much of a lull in the fighting between russia and ukraine. I think in the northern and eastern parts around car active area, luhansk, it does get its going to get probably a little bit more difficult to fight. I think in the south, that is an area that tends to be drier. We could very well see a fairly high level of fighting all the way throughout that scene. I wouldnt overstate the amount of time left. I think its probably somewhere ive been in this region, i think its probably somewhere closer towards, you know, the very tail end of this year, before really weather kind of seeps in and bogs down Armored Vehicles. But its also not an Armored Vehicle fight. This is light infantry assaulting across fields. I think the fact is there will still be a high degree of fighting. I want your take while we have you, lieutenant colonel, about a senator tubberville is doing in terms of holding up the confirmation of hundreds, you know, around 300 really Critical Military positions. We heard the House Foreign Affairs chair mike rogers, mike mccall, tell jake tapper that it is, quote, paralyzing. We heard how nikki haley responded to it, as well. You have said that this makes your blood boil. Those are your words. Explain to people why. Sure. This definitely is a personal topic for me. I was forced out of the military because my promotion was politicized. I decided i was not going to be the reason that we held up promotions of colonels and i did not want to subject my peers to basically, you know, all of this unpredictability. As long as i was going to be on that list of President Trump and his henchmen were going to keep me off. Tubberville is doing the exact same thing. He is politicizing promotions, he is having a disastrous effect on readiness. By the end of this year, its going to be over 75 of general officers and Flag Officers will be on hold. Imagine a Football Game in which the head coach is out for a season, because weve already been eight months into this. No leader, its going to be for the joint chiefs, for elements of the Joint Chiefs Of Staff, chairman of the joint chiefs. It has an impact. For a little while, you could cruise on. But eventually, it has an impact on readiness. It has an impact on how it interacts with the rest of government. I was up in d. C. Visiting with friends, military officers serving in the pentagon. It cascades down to the colonel level and below. It has a major effect on readiness, an effect on retention. And this is, this is an attack on u. S. National security. And its not just senator tubberville. Its the entirety of the republican establishment that refuses to challenge him. This needs to end. It is affecting the u. S. National security, its affecting soldiers lives, its affecting soldiers families and children and it needs to stop. I will say, we did hear a bit of a challenge on nikki haley from it, but i hear you when youre talking about republican elected officials that is not appropriate, yeah, that is not appropriate. Shes saying that the Department Of Defense was the root cause. That is not true. The Department Of Defense was taking care of soldiers. Women that have Reproductive Health care needs have the ability under this current policy, have the ability to have their Travel Expenses paid. It doesnt have anything to do with the medical care itself, its the Department Of Defense taking care of families and it is not the responsibility of the Department Of Defense. Its the politicization by senator tubberville, by other fellow republicans, of a military promotions. There are other ways to handle this. Legislation. If senator Tubberville Felt so strongly about it, he could have handled this through legislation. He did not. He took the cowards way out and hes affecting military readiness. It needs to stop, and frankly, this is a Passion Project for me, and im going to press all the levers i can to do whatever i can to help lift that hold. Were glad youre here this morning. Lieutenant colonel alexander vindman, thank you very much. Were glad youre here this morning. So there are also new developments this morning in the search for the convicted killer who escaped 12 days ago from that prison in california. Danelo cavalcante was spotted almost 20 miles from the area where they had focused their search and has a new look. On the left of your screen, you see before and the photos now with a shaved face. Hes described as cleanly shaven, wearing a green hooded sweatshirt. Chief Law Enforcement and Intelligence Analyst john miller has been following all of this and is with me us now. So many things happened. He has a new look, hes shaved, h he has a new van. Now its the other end of the cou county. Now hes probably trying to put real distance between himself and that box. Hes certainly exceeded my expectations. If you go by past experience, most escaped prisoners from an actual prison or a jail are caught within 24 hours. Most within two miles. I know hes exceeded the expectations of investigators. But you also have to remember the stakes are different for him. Hes sentenced to life basically without parole. And hes out, which means, you know, he is desperate and willing to really play his hardest, because if he goes back, hes going to a place where hes not getting out. Just to ask the obvious, nonexpert question, how is this possible . How did Law Enforcement let him through kind of the net, through the search area, let him get to this point . It seems astounding to me. So part of it is terrain. Which is, this is farm country. These are large houses, far apart from each other. These are roads with woods on both sides. When weve seen him, its either been a piece of video on a trail camera or that part of the woods that skirts the border between somebodys backyard while hes looking for a house to break into, to get that change of clothes, to find an electric razor to shave, to do all the things hes successfully done. But when youre in that kind of terrain, its not like in the grid system of a city, where people are walking around, that picture is fresh in their mind and theyre calling every minute. They use drones over the woods at night, theyre seeing deers and raccoons, you know, as heat signals. During the day, its too hot for the thermal stuff to work. Theres a lot of challenges for them. So you dont see this as a failure or theyre dropping the ball, this is just the reality of this dynamic . I mean, i know my fugitive hunt hunts. I was in the fbi after we found eric rudolph. That was five years ago in the forest with somebody who was trained by the military to survive. Back in pennsylvania, though, we had the mike bernam case just in july, ten days on the run, also found in the woods. Were rounding that period now in this case. But in pennsylvania, you had, i think, 2014, the eric frine case, this was a domestic terrorist, 48 days on the run, and that ended in a shootout where a trooper was killed. So this is not unusual in the scope of a desperate criminal in a rural environment exploiting the terrain. But it is a case where they want to get him back, they have to get him back, and of course, from his point of view, hes got to keep going. Surpassing expectations to some degree in terms of his ability. Its been a remarkable story. John miller, appreciate it. As always. Well stay on it. Well, the death toll in morocco rising this morning. Nearly 2,500 people are now dead after a powerful earthquake. We are live on the ground, thats next. You are also now, take a look, these are live images of the youngest and most active volcanos on the island of hawaii. That erupting right now. Well have details, ahead. But, was not letting me run the show. So, we switched to Verizon Business internet. They have business grade internet, nationwide. vo o make the switch. Its your business. Its your verizon. With fastsigns, create custom graphics that get tails and tongues wagging. Fastsigns. Make you. Whats considered normal for your cat is interesting. But if your cat isnt their quirky self lately, they may have pain from a common condition called osteoarthritis. Now, theres solensia. Solensia is a oncemonthly injection to control your cats oa pain. Veterinary professionals administering solensia who are pregnant, trying to conceive, or Breast Feeding should take extreme care to avoid selfinjection. Selfinjection could cause allergic reactions like anaphylaxis. Ask your vet about solensia and help get your cat back to their normal. If you struggle. And struggle. And struggle with cpap. You should check out inspire. No mask. No hose. Just sleep. Learn more and view Important Safety Information at inspiresleep. Com the subway series menu is getting a new lineup of sandwiches the deli heroes. Theres fresh sliced turkey on the titan turkey. Fresh sliced ham on the grand slam ham. Five meats on the beast and look at that double cheese try subways tastiest refresh yet. This morning, the death toll in morocco is rising. Nearly 2,500 people are now confirmed dead after fridays catastrophic earthquake. Right now, rescue teams are in a race against time to save survivors. The critical 72hour window to find people alive in the rubble is closing quickly. Cnns Seniorsam Kylie is in a devastated mountain village. Sam, what are you seeing on the ground right now . Re