There are also reasons to ask if north korea resolve is beginning to waiver, at least some in the face of u. S. Sanctions. Cnns Andrew Stevens joins me from seoul with the breaking details. Andrew, lay it out for us. Reporter first and foremost, john, we have this new development in that north koreas say they are prepared to sit down with the u. S. And talk about normalizing relations. Most important, to talk about denuclearization on the korean peninsula. They have said while those talks are going on, they will not take any provocative actions. They explicitly said there will be no missile launches or Nuclear Tests while those talks are on going. That is a major development. Theyve also said, and this could be a caveat, and its a wellworn line from them, that they are committed to denuclearization if north koreas security can be guaranteed. They dont spell out what would have to happen to guarantee that security, but you could argue that there are more than 20,000 u. S. Troops in south korea. That could be something that North Koreans would want to see go away as part of the deal. At least them sitting down and talking facetoface is a breakthrough. Its a diplomatic breakthrough. It is far, far from over, but seems to be heading away from the belligerence and raise in tensions we saw a few months ago to a diplomatic path at least for now, john. Andrew stevens in seoul, thank you. Joining me cnn military analyst Lieutenant Colonel rick francona. If you were inside the council this morning getting this news that north korea is willing to talk about denuclearization, which is something it has not really said before, what would your reaction be . My reaction would be this isnt our first rodeo and we will call a National Security council meeting. President trump had a measured response this morning. And what should be happening behind the scenes is general mcmaster should sit down with the Intelligence Community and say, have you spoken with the South Koreans. They were just in pyongyang. We have very limited intelligence on north korea. The South Koreans were just there. They have a very good sense of how real this deal was, what the mood was on the ground and whether or not sanctions are biting enough that the North Koreans are willing to come to the table in good faith. The other thing i think the nsc would be recommending to the president right now is actually to china. Its unusual that china is publicly silent on this. China doesnt let anything happen in the region without being involved in some way. President xi is about to be put in office for potentially a third term. My gut is china is doing something on this behind the scenes and nsc is going to want to work to see what that is. Colonel, they seem to be giving the United States a little bit. Not that theyd denuclearize altogether before they sit down, but they are saying its part of the discussion. I think its a breakthrough. Im very skeptical on what north korea does. Theyve promised things before and not delivered. The china aspect is key here. What are the chinese doing . Are they going to guarantee this . My initial thought is this is a breakthrough. The strong rhetoric has worked, the sanctions are biting. I tend to think its the latter. I dont like hearing this from south korea. I would prefer the North Koreans make some sort of announcement. If you read the south korean statement about what the North Koreans said, its couched very, very professionally. I give North Koreans kudos for efforts in this diplomatic range. Its very carefully worded. Colonel, you have experience militarily speaking in that region. When you hear from the north theres no reason to be nuclear if the military threat to north korea is resolved and north kor koreas security is gaern teed, what does that mean . What guarantee could that be . Is that u. S. Troops on the peninsula . Well, that remains to be seen. First of all, its going to involve some sort of statement or green, something in writing between the United States and north korea that guarantees this lack of hostility. Thats what the North Koreans want. You saw how they couched this. If theres no Nuclear Threat to north korea, we dont have to be a nuclear country. That gives them the out. Thats well played on their part. You know american troops will be part of the bargain, withdraw of the air Defense System will be on the table. Talking is better than what weve seen over the past year. Sam, it is interesting. You noted that the South Koreans met with kim jong un for the first time which is hugely significant. Before it was dennis rodman. South korean diplomat is a big step up from dennis rodman. Apologies to the bulls. That summit is significant. It is significant. But we know two key things about the North Koreans and in particular kim jong un. One is he loves being the center of attention. So the olympics was a massive pr stunt for him. I hope this isnt just a pr gambit. The summit will be another opportunity for him to be on the public stage. Two, he likes to peel off u. S. Allies. Its not surprising to me that he is trying to get a bilateral discussion going even further directly with the south. Do you think the pressure, maybe the rhetoric from President Trump has pushed north korea to the table for whatever it is . I definitely think a contributing factor. Great to have you with us. Thanks very much. New developments from todays episode as the nunberg turns, or is it days of our nunberg. Sam nunberg who was subpoenaed by the special counsel to go before the grand jury and wavered dramatically and publicly about whether he would comply on tv now seems like he would cooperate. For now it seems that sam nunberg will testify. When you get behind the psychology and the soap opera elements, there are hard facts. Nunberg revealed that the special counsel wants all his communications with the president and nine of the president s closest confidants. He alleged the president may well have colluded with russia during the campaign. The president has not responded but is due to hold a News Conference this afternoon with the visiting Prime Minister of sweden. Lets bring you up to speed with sam nunberg. Jessica schneider in washington. Not only did he waffle over whether he would kplooi with the subpoena from the special counsel, seeming he would, in fact, comply. But sam nunberg made very wild claims. You mentioned some of them. Nunberg also said that he believes that the president knew about that june 2016 meeting at trump tower. Of course, that was the meeting with the russian lawyer and don junior and Jared Kushner and Paul Manafort where don junior was initially promised dirt onhill, later saying he never got any of that dirt. Here is what sam nunberg said about the meeting and what the president knew. I think he probably knew in advance. In advance . Yeah. If i had to guess, don informed him about it. So you heard there nunberg really provided no proof for that claim. He said, if i had to guess and its important to know that the president and donald trump jr. , they have both denied that the president knew about that trump tower meeting. Whats also important to put into perspective is sam nunberg was a shortlived campaign adviser, fired in august 2015 for racially charged facebook posts. That was two months after donald trump announced his candidacy, nearly a year before the trump tower meeting in june of 2016. Really sam nunberg putting forth a lot of claims in several interviews over the past day, really not providing any evidence to back up those claims. When it does come to the subpoena, a demand that nunberg produce documents, also appearing before a grand jury on friday. Its unclear if nunberg will comply or not. Hanging over nunbergs head would be a contempt of court charge if, in fact, he didnt comply. Of course, waffling on whether he will or wont. John. Jessica schneider in washington. Joining me former federal prosecutor laura coates. There is a lot of drama here. This is a soap opera. Theres psychological analysis, but there are hard facts that i think we should start with before we go anywhere else here. The fact is the special counsel gave a subpoena to sam nunberg to testify before a grand jury. This is even after nunberg talked to investigators. So why . Why would the special counsel want to put him before the grand jury . Its not at all peculiar that after you speak to a federal investigator, they want to memorialize that not just in their spiral notebooks but also in front of the grand jury. The grand jury has far more authority to have that testimony used at trial. You can compel the witness to be consistent, if not truthful at a trial if it comes in the future. You can impeach that person with their testimony if its somehow inconsistent. It also has the advantage of having a firsthand account told by a witness in front of the grand jury when their role is to assess credibility, to decide if they should indict. Also no lawyer in the room for a grand jury. If you have a witness you think you can get to, it might be better to do it in that setting than a oneonone interview. Im trying to look at beyond the soap opera here and at the facts. Its hard. It is hard. There are key nuggets here. We know what nunberg says he has been asked already. He said investigators when they did have him were asking about the president s businesses. Listen to this. The way they asked about his business dealings, the way they asked if you had heard anything, even during while i was fired, it made me suspect that they suspect something about them. Now gloria, he may not have very well done anything. You know why . Trump may have very well done something during the election with the russians. And if he did that, i dont know. If he did that, its inexcusable if he did that. Now, the second part there, laura, is speculation, whether or not the president did something with the russians. It seemed that sam nunberg was speculating there. The first part is what he was asked by investigators. They were asking about the president s businesses, and the way they were asking made him believe they had something. How do you assess that . First of all, its noted that a cone of silence doesnt apply to a conversation with an investigator or in the grand jury. If the witness wants to speak about what theyve been asked in a grand jury or in front of a federal investigators, its their prerogative to do so. It makes sense if theyre asking questions about the business ties of donald trump, then im sure it begets the notion that they must be interested in it. The reality here is why theyre going after this particular person for information. He obviously said in the interviews he has an axe to grind. He talks about not being a fan, being treated horribly, hes taking credit for all the things that donald trump is taking credit for, the muslim ban to the wall, et cetera. It doesnt necessarily undermine his credibility for muellers purposes. It can show he has incentive to provide information about what he knows. Somebody who was early on in the campaign, early on established a loyalty to the president of the United States, the now president of the United States, may have been the very fly on the wall they need who no longer wants to remain loyal. The list of nine people the special counsel has subpoenaed for all emails and communication, including the president , carter page, steve bannon, corey lewandowski. Robert mueller doesnt do fishing expeditions were told. Theres a reason those names are on the list. Is there reason to believe then that Robert Mueller already knows there were communications between sam nunberg and some of these people . Absolutely. You see thats what happened with george papadopoulos, when he was trying to erase his facebook page, and they already had the information they needed to show this person had information and could be a cooperator. The cardinal sin of a lawyer would be to ask a question they did not already know the answer to. A grand jury subpoena was issued because based on his statements and probably based on documentation theyve already received from other witnesses, that they have a particular link they want to connect and they want it memorialized in front of the grand jury, or they want to be able to use the information as part of a later Cooperation Agreement. Although, given the fact he had a very early departure in the campaign, john, would lead me to believe that he does not have the ideal scenario to have a Cooperation Agreement which is why he has a grand jury subpoena. Think about it. From the bodyguard to the righthand man of the president of the United States, its not accidental that mueller has chosen these people with Key Information for their proximity to power. Look at the facts here, look at what we know from this, dont be fooled by the drama. Laura coates, great to have you with us. Thank you very much. Thank you. Youve heard the reports of chaos in the west wing. What chaos . The president has weighed in on this this morning. Also, by the way, the oscars. I know you want to know what he thinks of the oscars. Were moments away from hearing from the nations top intelligence chief from capitol hill. What will he say about north koreas plans to halt missile testing in exchange for talks with the u. S. . The polls are open. The first primaries for 2018 today. Can democrats make a dent in a deep red state like texas . Im a migraine sufferer and im an emt. When i get a migraine at work, its debilitating. If i call out with a migraine, thats one less ambulance to serve a community. I just dont want to let these people down. Excedrin migraine. Relief that works as hard as you do. A trip back to the dthe doctors office, mean just for a shot. But why go back there, when you can stay home with Neulasta Onpro . Strong chemo can put you at risk of serious infection. 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Is ready to go hard in either direction. This statement comes after north korea indicated this week its willing to potentially sit down and have talks and potentially put on the table denuclearizing the north korean peninsula, the korean peninsula. The president at the gridiron dinner over the weekend made comments about what he would say if they wanted to talk. He said they have to denuke. He may get his wish based on what is happening out of north korea. Abby phillip at the white house. Thanks very much. Lets talk more now about the days political developments. Joining me, cnn political analysts, jackie kucinich, alex burns and rarg rhett brennan. The president did comment on many of the reports that have been out for the last ten days about the chaos and upheaval. The new fake news narrative is there is chaos, all caps, in the white house. Wrong, explanation point. People will autz come and go and i want strong dialogue before making a final decision. I still have some people that i want to change, parenthetically, always seeking perfection. There is no chaos. Only great energy. The part that jumps out, there are people i want to change . Really . This is really we think about gary kohn, the president s economic adviser and the president s next moves on this deal on aluminum tariffs. He said very clearly what he said he intends to do. The question is he going to go forward with it. This comes ahead of this event over the weekend in pennsylvania otherwise known as the heart of steel country in the u. S. Gary cohn is part of a group of key advisers inside the white house who think the president shouldnt be Going Forward with his plan. There are a lot of end users in the process, whether its the beer industry, candy manufacturers, oil industry, auto manufacturers that also have concerns about how this will impact their business, prices and jobs. Gary kohn is planning to convene this meeting towards the end of the week, thursday, about trying to dissuade