Might be dead if a good smar tan had not also had a gun. Heres what we know now about this man. The air force is investigating why it failed to report a courtmartial conviction to a National Database. That database is meant to prevent those convicted of Domestic Violence from owning a gun. And its election day here in the u. S. Could that tight virginia race be a preview for next years mid term elections . Lets begin with jeff seleny, traveling with President Trump in seoul, south korea. Jeff . Reporter chris, good morning. President trump said its time to act with great determination toward north decreea. In a press conference he gave with the south korean president , one thing was missing. It was the bellicose name calling that he has been engaged in much of the summer. He left the door open to direct talks of diplomacy. President trump called military force a last resort in confronting north korea. But said it could still be a necessary one if kim jongun wont back away from his nuclear ambitions. We have a Nuclear Submarine also positioned. We have many things happening that we hope, we hope in fact, ill go a step further, we hope to god we never have to use. Reporter visiting the Korean Peninsula for the first time today, standing in seoul, only 35 miles from the north korean border, the president said sanctions appear to be starting to work. He would not say whether he supported direct diplomatic talks, which he blasted only weeks ago as a waste of time. We like to play our cards a little close to the vest. Yes, i think were making progress. He called on leaders in the world, asking them to stand up to kim jongun. He is threatening millions and millions of lives so needlessly. North korea is a worldwide threat that requires worldwide action. Standing side by side with south korean president moon, mr. Trump took a farmore measured tone, stopping well short again today of belittling kim jongun, as he has repeatedly done in recent weeks in the u. S. Rocket man is on a Suicide Mission for himself. They will be met with fire and fury, like the world has never seen. Reporter instead the president made a show of force as he visited Camp Humphreys where thousands of american troops are based. At a briefing with u. S. And south Korean Military commanders, the president expressing optimism that the Nuclear Standoff could peacefully be resolved. Ultimately it will work out. It always works out. It has to work out. Reporter he has been critical of president moon, once saying south decreys appeasement with north korea would not work. Thank you so much for that beautiful ceremony. Reporter President Trump once again facing questions about the Church Massacre in texas. The president was asked if increased vetting for gun purchases in the u. S. Would not have stopped the carnage. Youre bringing up a situation that probably shouldnt be discuss toochd right now. If you did what youre suggesting, there would have been no difference three days ago. And you might not have had that very brave person who happened to have a gun or rifle in his truck go out and shoot him and hit him and neutralize him. If he didnt have a gun, instead of having 26 dead, you would have had hundreds more dead. And back here in seoul the president will be addressing the National Assembly before leaving seoul for china. He will be putting more Historical Context on his view of north korea, again calling for the world to help confront the rising threat. And, chris, interesting, this week, before the week ends, the president will have a meeting with the president of chien and the president of russia. North korea, among other things, will be first and foremost on that agenda. Jeff zeleny, thank you very much for the reporting from seoul, south korea. North korea closely following President Trumps words, watching what hes going to say tonight when he addresses south koreas National Assembly. Will ripley is live in pyongyang, north korea. Cnn, the only American Network there. Will has visited that isolated country more than a dozen times. This time is special, will. Theyre listening for a message and we already have indications that the president may throw them a little bit of a curveball. Yes, because the administration has been hinting for a while now that theyre going to announce whether to add north korea back to the list of state sponsors of terrorism, a list they were taken off almost ten years ago when there were discussions back then about north Koreas Nuclear program. We know how thats turned out. They have a growing Nuclear Arsenal and threatened more nuclear tests. When is it going to happen . Its pretty much inevitable that theyll test their nuclear program. Will they do it while President Trump is here in the region . Obviously encouraging that the president hasnt said anything in south korea to exacerbate the situation. Here in pyongyang, they feel that the president and the administration has said enough. Diplomacy has broken down and joint naval exercises and in the coming days even larger drills, including three u. S. Strike carriers will get under way. These are not necessarily rash acts where theyre sitting by the television waiting for the president to say the right word. Regime survival, not going to do anything that would intentionally trigger a war with the United States. Although thats still a great danger, many people in the region concerned about that. Chris, alisyn . Will, thank you very much. Its great to have you there. Stay with us, if you would. We want to bring in cnn political analyst David Gregory and david sanger. Nice to have you here. David gregory, what do you make of the shift from the talk of rocket man that, kind of rhetoric to now i hope theyll come to the table . Have you to consider the audience for President Trump right now. Hes in the region where showing up in form is often more important in these meetings and the true substance. There is a diplomatic track going on. He is very scripted over there, something we dont often see certainly when hes back home. He has been very scripted. I imagine the bilateral meetings hes having are rather scripted as well. A lot of things are going on at once. What would be included in that is as much of a show of force as possible to the north on the part of the United States, working with allies in the region. All the talk about japan getting more American Hardware and weaponry. South korea and the United States doing joint exercises, meeting with china, an effort to put more economic pressure on. All of that happening to perhaps give north korea an out, some kind of an out, where everyone could pull back from how far things have gone. David sanger, tonight is the big speech. What does the president have to achieve tonight for it to be defined as a success . Well, i think two things, chris. The first is, remember, that the United States and south korea have not been on the same page on north korea. President moon, who just came into office a few months ago, has made it clear he would never approve or allow a preemptive strike against the north. And that, in some ways, under cuts the president s strategy. All the fiery rhetoric you heard before on the tape and that david just referred to is all about convincing the north that if they dont actually find a way to stop the testing and then begin to dismantle the nuclear program, there could be military action. And the South Koreans have said well never permit it. So, what he has to do in the speech tonight, to my mind, basically two or three things. First, keep the north from making clear a split between south korea and the United States. Second, show a firm resolve but also, as david suggested, offer some kind of an off ramp. Thats why i thought it was so fascinating that he said today that there could be some kind of deal made. Thats different rhetoric from what the administration has said before, which is the only deal is complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. The third thing he has to do is make clear that he would bring make sure the allies were with him before he took any real action. Otherwise, youre going to see a split. So, will, youre on the ground there in pyongyang. What do you hear from officials there in north korea about a possible off ramp ordeal . Well, north korean officials told me a couple of weeks ago when i met with a senior diplomat here that they dont feel they can talk with the Trump Administration. Diplomacy, and we have this confirmed from several sources, broke down after President Trumps speech at the United NationsGeneral Assembly when he used those fiery terms like totally destroying north korea, called their leader kim jongun rocket man. While he has dialed that back, north korea hasnt forgotten about that. Its been nearly two months since they conducted any sort of military test. There are a lot of reasons why that may or may not be. We simply dont know the thinking of north Korean Leader kim jongun. What we dont know is that the north koreans in their message repeatedly and even this week have warned the United States not to underestimate their abilities, their arsenal and officials here want to send the Trump Administration a very clear message because talk, they feel, simply wouldnt be effective, given the mixed messaging that has come out of the administration. Its also important to remember the obsession with survival that the north has. That is the real concern, that the regime will be taken over and even the chinese are sympathetic to that. They dont want american influence at its doorstep. They like the buffer of the north. I thveng that goes to the point of whether we can get far enough along where it looks like it will be tense enough that theres some off ramp. David has made the point before, both davids actually, that for north korea, this is existential. What seems like push back and tough talk from the president is received differently and what that dynamic might yield. David gregory, lets talk to a different topic. In light of the fact that the u. S. Air force did not communicate information that it was supposed to to the National Database about the murderer in texas, and that is why he was able to get rifles that he used in this crime, the president gave a mixed message. This is what he said. There would have been no difference three days ago. And you might not have had that very brave person who happened to have a gun or rifle in his truck go out and shoot him and hit him and neutralize him. And i can only say this. If he didnt have a gun, instead of having 26 dead, you would have had hundreds more dead. Now now obviously this is al speculation by the president. But it seems to be a specious premise. Forget about extreme vetting, whatever faye fancy label you want to put on it. Had they communicated the information they were supposed to, the man wouldnt have been able to pass off his paperwork. We know from the Texas Governor that he was stopped from getting a certain carry permit because of what they knew about him. But this goes to how the system works and it is often insufficient, that there are gaps and lapses and then you have problems. What he should have emphasized or what anybody should have emphasized is that there are measures in place to prevent this man from ever getting a weapon and it was the military, the air force, that dropped the ball tragically, by failing to communicate that information about what this guy was, a wife beater, child abuser. He had this violent past. No way he should have had a weapon in his hands. It goes to the point people will make which is youve got to enforce current laws, put those measures in place that exist to keep guns out of his hands. To what the president said its belied by the facts. Weve seen it in the datea. Our problem in america is way too many guns, both legal and certainly illegal. And the fact that those states like texas that have lax gun laws, easier access to concealed weapons and guns in general, they get lots good guys with weapons but even more bad guys with weapons. How do they make it harder, less accessible . People like david sangers colleagues have done interesting work as defining this as Public Health and not just Public Policy in looking at how we make some impact on this. David sanger, listen, the president started today in his press conference with that same old nra talking point. Its too soon to talk about this. People are grieving. We cant talk about it. We cant look at what went wrong. But then he did ultimately answer the question. So do you think in some ways this issue of gun violence will keep coming up on his asia trip and eclipse some of what hes trying to do here . It already has. Im sure it wont go away. I thought what was most notable, alisyn, was what was missing. It would have been just as easy for the president to say this man should not have had a gun. Clearly there was some lapse on part of the air force. He could have said im calling for a complete investigation and public report to explain what happened here. He shouldnt have a gun even if the person who ultimately engaged him outside the church, very bravely, may well have been perfectly legally licensed. That doesnt strike me as something that would have been very difficult for him to say. I think its also interesting that he never discusses this in terms of Public Health or public safety. Yet a week ago when we had the tragic case in new york of an extremist who ran down and killed eight people and injured many more, he had no problem the same day of the attack as talking about extreme vetting and his changes in immigration. Theres a bit of a double standard here. Right after an incident like this, its politically acceptable to discuss changes in the immigration laws, perfectly reasonable thing to discuss, but not politically acceptable to discuss what weve learned about our gun laws. Right. Studies dont show that the United States has a higher rate of mental illness. It does have 25 times the average when it comes to gun deaths. Clearly if you look at what the problem is, its fairly obvious. Whether you want to deal with it is another question. Approximate fellows, appreciate it very much. Lets get to the texas Church Massacre investigation itself. U. S. Air force has confirmed what had been reported, which is that it did fail to inform Law Enforcement about the killers conviction for Domestic Violence. That move would have stopped him from buying the weapons that he used. Diane gallagher is live in Sutherland Springs with the latest. What do we know . Chris, were starting to get a clearer picture of these details of what happened inside that sanctuary sunday morning. According to authorities, the killer emptied 15 magazines were talking about 450 rounds at First Baptist church. Perhaps the most chilling of all is that in retrospect it appears that the warning signs were there. The air force admitting that they failed to Alert Federal authorities about Devin Patrick kelleys history of domestic abuse, which could have prevented him from purchasing the rifle he used to carry out sundays massacre. Somebody really dropped the ball in this case and theres 26 dead people now. Reporter an investigation now under way by the air force Inspector General as Court Records offer insight into the shooters violent past. In 2012, the shooter pled guilty to assaults in 2011 and 2012 against his first wife, aggravated assault against his infant stepson. He would often be physically violent with his son, violently shaking him. As a result of that, his stepson suffered fractures, subdermal heem. Kelley was also charged with pointing loaded and unloaded guns at his wife but those charges were dropped as a result of a plea agreement. As punishment he served one year in a military prison and was given a bad conduct discharge from the air force in 2014 along with reduction in rank. That same year, a neighbor at a colorado rv park said he saw the shooter bite beet a dog, allegations that kelley denied before being cited for animal cruelty. He remarried in 2014. The killer recently had become obsessed with a family dispute and sent threatening Text Messages to his motherinlaw, including the morning of the shooting. She was not in church on sunday but another Family Member was. Kelleys wifes grandmother, lulu white, was killed in the attack. We cant go into details about that domestic situation that is continuing to be vetted and thoroughly investigated. Reporter Joaquin Ramirez witnessed the unspeakable horror firsthand. Joann was shot in the arm. It was so scary. That man was shooting. He was shooting hard. Reporter the shooting stopped for a moment as the gunman went aisle for aisle, looking for survivors. I thought it was the police when i saw the feet. Everybody got real quiet. And be quiet. Everybody was saying be quiet. Thats him. Th