For palestinians. This twitter tirade raising new questions in some corners about the president s mental state. One of the president s biggest supporters calling it quits. Utahs orrin hatch announcing he will not run for reelection in november. It opens the door for former president ial candidate and trump critic mitt romney to jump in. We have it all covered for you. Cnns Paula Hancocks live in seoul. What do we know, paula . Reporter well, alisyn, this was a very short phone call apparently. It did last 20 minutes. But the redact we had was extremely short. It is significant. The fact that north korea and south korea are finally communicating with each other. This phone call originated from north korea, starting 1 30 a. M. Eastern. It lasted about 20 minutes. Not necessarily that there were conversation the whole way through. It was really to test the technical issues of this hotline. It is known as the panmujon communications channel. It is a line that hasnt been used since february 2016. We know that from the south korean government. They have been phoning twice a day every day since february 2016 but north korea has not picked up. But now north korea has made its phone call. The readout we have, the names have been blotted out for security reasons. The south korean officials said this is x. The north korean officials said x. All. They didnt mention pyeongchang or the Winter Olympics or anything about whether or not north korea was going to driveway to next tuesday that south korea has suggested for highlevel talks at the dmz. There are a lot of questions still up in the air. We have just learned in the past couple minutes, there was a second phone call 6 07 and north korea said lets call it a day. The reason we believe is the south koreans said call us back. Well wait for you. We will wait to hear your next phone call. There is not a lot in there. It is just the very fact that they are talking to each other. I think that really is the headline. It is okay to have xs. The fact that they are communicating at all is a Major Development from our perspective. My question for you, paula, is what about from the south korean perspective. Do they see this as a potential first step or a tactic . Reporter they see it as a first step. We have had positive statements from the government here. It is wellknown that the president wants to have more dialogue with north korea. It is what he was elected on. He wants north korea to be part of the olympics. Hes billed it as the peace olympics. He is staking an awful lot on north korea being part of the Winter Olympics next month. And the fact that he said he would send a delegation, there must have been cheering in the corridors of power in sseoul. Of course there will be caution. They have signed on to a lot before and certainly hasnt kept to it all. Okay. Paula, thank you very much for all of that reporting. We will check back in with you throughout the program. That diplomatic announcement coming hours after President Trump bragged that his Nuclear Button is bigger than kim jong jonguns. That is just one peck tweet. Reporter good morning, alisyn. It would have been a lot more shocking perhaps in another era, but today not so much. The nukeslinging war of words between the president of the United States and the leader getting off to a robust start in the new year with some of the toughest rhetoric we have heard from the president since last summer. President trump taunting north korean dictator kim jongun over the size of Americas Nuclear arsenal, asserting his is much bigger and more powerful than north koreas, before threatening that the u. S. Button works. Mr. Trump lash be out after kim jongun bragged that the u. S. Is in range of a north korea strike. The ratcheting up of tensions raising alarm. There are potentially millions of lives at stake, untold death and destruction here. To me it is very disturbing. No one in the white house knows what is uns ugg admission point where one of these tweets is going to set him off and he will hit the button. Rocket man is on a Suicide Mission for himself. Reporter the president responding after south korea showed is an eagerness to opening up talks with its north korean neighbor. North korea can talk with anyone they want. But the u. S. Is not going to recognize it or acknowledge it until they agree to ban the nuclear weapons. Reporter the tweets about north korea, 2 of 16 messages the president sent on a range of on unrelated topics during his first day back in the oval office after the holiday break. Mr. Trump began the day attacking his own Justice Department as a deep state referencing a conspiracy theory. Obviously he doesnt believe the entire Justice Department is part of that. Reporter the president going after top Hillary Clinton aide huma abedin, saying she should be jailed over her handling of emails despite the fact that after an fbi investigation she has not been charged with a crime. And President Trump urging the Justice Department to act. When i decide to just do it i said, you know, this russia thing with trump and russia is a madeup story. Reporter other parts of the president s twitter attacks, New York Times, former president barack obama, pakistan, iran and the palestinians, who mr. Trump threatened not to give future funding if they do not rejoin peace talks. President trump taking record for a record year of safety and commercial aviation without citing any measures his administration has implemented. It really doesnt matter what the president of the United States says anymore. It is so bizarre, strange, not true, infantile. Reporter today the president will get his regularly scheduled intelligence briefing. Hes also expected to have lunch with the secretaries of state and defense. A couple meetings made all the more interesting, in fact, by the developments with north korea. Chris and alisyn. All right, joe. It is one thing for a democrat to say what the president of the United States doesnt say anymore but it does. Richard haass, author of a world in disarray the crisis of the old order. Perfect title for a pivot for the state of affairs. Thank you. Happy new year to you. Good to have you on the show. This the world in disarray when you look at north korea and soerbg oh, communicating, the battle of the buttons with kim jongun and trump, and whats going on with iran. How do you see it . The world has been in disarray for some time. The rise of the missile program. The middle east is a mess by any and every measure. You have a rising china. So much of the machinery is 75 years old. It goes back to world war ii. Whats a problem is were making it worse. What we have seen in the last 24 hours is a president who wields enormous power over the fate of not just 320 million american lives but over 7 billion people. He has raised questions about how reliable america is, what kind of judgment we have. Mixed signals on the palestinians in israel. Mixed signals on north korea. So, yes, there is disarray out there structurally. And right now the United States is arguably adding to it. Lets just drill down on some of these issues. North korea, isnt it a good thing if they are communicating for the first time with south korea . It is good that they are communicating. But, but, but, it is a real challenge for us. South koreas agenda has traditionally been stability on the peninsula. What happens if the north says to south korea, we will do some of the things we have been wanting you to do. By the way, this whole american concern with Nuclear Missiles and weapons, well put that to the side. Is a south korea is and is south Korea Alliance so tight that we can depend on south korea to basically do our bidding and coordinate with us, or has this administration, by asking south korea to break up the trade agreement by some of our language, how do we distance ourselves from south korea . Whats the answer . Were going to find out. What nikki haley said yesterday was not helpful. When she said we cant have negotiations that we will support unless north korea says in advance that they are going to give up all their nuclear weapons. There is zero chance. Not 1 chance, but zero chance north korea will accept that condition. Diplomacy is where you get. Its not where you begin. We should not set preconditions like that. The counter argument is this. Trump starts talking to kim jongun in a way that a lot like you dont like in a condescending way. Iran, you dont like the way he likes about them bashing obama. But look at them now. People are in the streets fighting for their freedom. He is speaking out in a way obama did not. You know the history of pakistan better than either of us will. But there is discontent. There are still terrorist havens. Trump calls it out. His strength through leadership is a plus not a minus. Calling it out with pakistan is legitimate on the merits. By calling it out publicly, will that get them to give up their support of terrorism, stop providing a sanctuary to the taliban . To me, unlikely. What it does, just like donald trump is motivated by a populist nationalist pressure, the other countries are too. Pakistanis have domestic politics. Look, whats going on in the streets is self generated. It shows deep and broad iranian discontent with their leadership and how they havent delivered. It is useful if this administration had not said youre not welcome in this country and would have been a lot more useful if the United States said were against oppression wherever it happens, russia, be turkey, philippines. This selective support raises questions about how sincere we are. Does depriving them of 250 billion im sorry . If we dont give the money were promised. They can turn and get it from china and other places. We want to say were willing to work with you but only conditionally. Sopbgs as. I would say quietly, look, we will give you this 20 billion worth of aid but only if you do these sorts of things. Have a transactional relationship with them. The president is right. Theyre not an ally. It has to be transactional. Theyre not a friend. To expect they are going to act like one automatically is like lucy and the football. They have pulled it too many times. Look, there is no question its all complicated. American politics always boils down to whats simple. Thats why Foreign Policy doesnt loom that large in american elections. It becomes more domestic. People in the election said, yeah, we look kind of weak. Wasnt obama too much of an a poll gist. And trump was certainly trumpeting that message. How does all of these situations that are emerging, how do they not favor to a president who said im going to be strong and things will happen. Hes talking tough and things are happening. Well, again, i think youre right. Certain people did perceive obama was too weak. When he didnt act on the red line in syria, a lot of people in this country and around the line said thats. But that was an untruth. He ought to have been criticized for what he didnt do on that occasion. Again, any time the president tweets or speaks, its the use of american power. So i dont judge him auto a daytoday, hourbyhour basis. Does this get us to where we want or not . Does it make negotiations more or less likely . Same with pakistan. Does he stop providing a sanctuary to the taliban. We will kill americans over the world. Do we move israelis and palestinians closer or farther away. This is the second inning or third inning of the trump of this term of the trump presidency. It is more populist. More assertive of the United States. The question is, are we going to get closer to where we want to go in ways to defend or promote americas interests. Lets talk about whose button is bigger. You know how the state department works. The spokesperson Heather Nauer is unflappable. She does a great job. She had to explain to reporters why the president would engage in this kind of rhetoric. Here she is trying to do that. As you have seen, when america speaks about a matter, it is taken very seriously. I know. That is why it is important for the United States to be careful with its words. And you may not get all the words you were hoping to get, but im going to be careful with the words. Does that include tweeting stuff about little rock et man, be careful with your words. Or fire and fury will rain down on north korea. Im not even going to go there, matt. Wise choice. Interesting he she doesnt want to go there. Because it is is hard to defend. Heres what theyre trying to do. The president s style is offensive to the media but embraced by the real americans. Thats their play. When asked about his words, they say, in these positions of power, accountability to the American People besides the point, im not going to talk about his words. Thats for him to explain. So thats right out of the textbook she is supposed to be following. Is it the right rule . No. Foreign policy is about the United Statess relationship with the rest of the world. We are 4 , 5 of the worlds people. They dont just have a domestic audience but international. Does this make north korea more or less likely to maybe agree to some restraint. Does it make south korea more or less comfortable that they are dependent on us as a ally . Does it make other countries more or less likely to work with us . Thats the criteria. Im all in favor of potentially tough language if i think it is going to advance us. When president bush the father said this will not stand on the south lawn of the white house, those were tough words. It sent a message to the rest of the world of just that. Saddam hussein was not going to get away with violating kauwaits sovereignty. It can on occasion be the right thing. Supporting the iranian people now exactly the right thing. Tweets are white house statements. Lets not kid ourselves. John kelly, chief of staff, say he cant control white house tweets. These are white house statements of the 21st century. We have to take them seriously. Our book is out in paeuperbo this week. It is quite critical. My argument is we have decided in many ways not that we are going to be isolationist but we are no longer going to lead the world when it comes to forging International Relationships and institutions in a way we have since world war ii. We will play a much more narrow role, transactional role. I think what were doing is contributing, pardon the expression, the disarray in the world. And i think the danger for donald trump is the United States cannot be great in a world that is unraveling. And i think that is the contradiction of his Foreign Policy. Richard haass, always great to have you with us. President trumps bizarre tweets raising new questions about his state of mind. Now i have nicoderm cq. The nicoderm cq patch with unique extended release Technology Helps prevent your urge to smoke all day. Its the best thing that ever happened to me. Every great why needs a great how. Thats why feeling safe is priceless. With adt, you can feel safe with an adt starter kit professionally installed for only 49. 00. Call today, and install an adt starter kit that includes security panel, keypad, key fob, entry and motion sensors and for a limited time, get a camera included and installed at no additional cost. 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This is language that would have been rejected from the script from doctors of strange love. This is the president of the United States doing a measuring test about nuclear weapons. We cant begin to normalize this. This is dangerous. This is childish. This is unpresident ial. It is not befitting the leader of the free world. Inside the white house, as well as the administration, there are two responses. One is a full face palm and silent scream. The other is sycophants saying great job is, boss. You got it. Both are unacceptable. Somehow we have reached a pathetic new low. With the new page out of the Sarah Sanders playbook of, well, im not going to go there. Im not going to talk about his tweet. Thats too bad because she represents the administration. And the president ial statements. Chris, the other side of the coin. They are completely usual. This is what he does. Hes hyperbolic, incendiary. People like that about him. And if you look at north korea, the Biggest Development from this back and forth is opening, reopening a challenge of communication with south korea is that has been closed for years. Who cares if you like it. It seems to be something positive. Do you buy that . I dont. It is 6 23 in the morning. Good job. Thank you. I do what i can. It is possible by 6 30 or 7 00 a. M. , donald trump is claiming credit for reopening of the channel. I think it is probably more likely than not. But, again, just because a happens and b happens it doesnt mean that a made b happen. Look, his presidency is not normal. It never has been. His candidacy was not normal. The peo