Good morning. It is wednesday, may 16th. Im Yasmine Vossoughian alongsi alongside Ayman Mohyeldin. Kim jongun cancelled talks with south korea over exercises with the south and u. S. Kim is okay with the exercises, a complete 180 from decades of north korea policy. Pyongyang appears to have reverted to that stance, calling drills a rude and wicked provocation and rehearsal for n invasion. Kim jongun said previously he staunlunderstands the need a utility of the United States and republic of korea continuing in joint exercises. Absolutely, we will continue to go ahead and plan the meeting between President Trump and kim jongun. Theyre simply not provocative. We do these things around the world, they have occurred for decades and decades. I will say it a third time. Kim jongun said he understands the importance to the United States that we conduct the joint exercises, joint exercises continue to go on. The statement carried out on state media, Foreign Affairs minister says if they push us to the corner, force us to give up nuclear unilaterally, pyongyang will reconsider participating in the upcoming talks. It also names john bolton by name, saying his libya strategy is awfully sinister move to impose the same faith as libya and iraq. He says his nation doesnt hide feeling of repugnance toward him. He adds theyll never make a deal that helps pyongyangs economy. President trump is set to host south korean moon jaein in the white house next week. Lets go to beijing. Joining us, janice mackey. A lot of people are shocked from the no the news. Tell us what this could mean for the summit and where the date and time has been set . Reporter the regime is critical of the u. S. And south korea for not calling off the joint military drills. The bigger issue seems to be what u. S. Officials have been saying on television and in newspapers about what to expect out of the summit. The vice minister of Foreign Affairs was unequivocal in saying that north korea is never going to give up its Nuclear Program in exchange for economic trade with the United States. Now, this runs completely counter to what we have been hearing from u. S. Officials in their narrative, in particular National Security adviser john bolton. The north seems offended by boltons talk of complete denuclearization, dismantling the arsenal, and references to the libya model. What analysts are saying the expectations of the process need to be lowered. There needs to be realization that the north, yes, is looking for some aid or economic relief, but looking more so for recognition. The state Department Says theyre going to go ahead with summit preps, but at this point it is unclear whether it will happen. So many analysts and experts predicted, negotiating with north korea is not an easy road to go down. Thank you. Now to the turmoil in the middle east. Yesterday funerals were held after at least 60 palestinians were killed by the israeli military, sparked by the opening of the new embassy in jerusalem. A strange sense of calm fell over gaza after hamas called for a smaller scale general strike. However, the group said it is still considering military action. We regret loss of life. We regret the loss of all life. The misery that is faced by people in gaza is because of a result of hamas. That is something that we compact to. People want to blame israel for all of this that is going on in the past few weeks. The actions, the activities that are taking place there that youre all referring to would certainly stop if violent protests were to stop and if hamas were to stop inciting violence, encouraging people to go up to the border fence, encouraging people to cut through the border fence, encouraging people to rundown that border fence into israel, sending things over the fences. All those activities. Israel has a right to defend itself. Nbcs matt bradley will join us from the ground inside gaza with a live report on the latest there. You did excellent reporting yesterday from ra mal a and west bank. It is about 12 00 noon there. Want to get the latest on everything going on on the ground, and get your reaction to nikki haley saying this is all on the shoulders of hamas, and has nothing to do with the embassy. Reporter i mean, the situation on the ground in terms of street protest and clashes or demonstrations has certainly subsided in the occupied west bank as we were hearing as well in the gaza strip. It has shifted to a bit of a diplomatic brow. You now have turkey and israel exchanging sharp words. Turkey has expelled the israeli ambassador, and theyve expelled the israeli consul general. He summoned the ambassador to give him a dressing down in diplomatic terms. You also saw the Guatemalan Embassy open, that was a welcome move by the Israeli Government. Theres a more diplomatic maneuvering. Interestingly, all eyes at the United Nations, what will happen next. We heard the u. N. Secretary general call for investigation into what happened to gaza. Thats not something the Israeli Government is likely to accept. The United NationsSecurity Council that met yesterday, talked about this had sharp words for nikki haley, putting the blame on the shoulders on hamas. Something they categorically reject. They will probably not take kindly to the words of the American Ambassador there, saying all of the protests were as a result of what hamas is doing. I can only imagine the reaction to some of the words we heard yesterday. Were going to continue to follow this. Want to turn to the white house, pushing on crackdown on leaks. Daily beast citing two sources that spoke with the president in recent days, reports he wants at least one prominent leaker identified and dealt with to make an example. Heres the White House Deputy press secretary yesterday. Reporter there are obviously things we are trying to eradicate. It is unacceptable. John kelly banned personal devices from the west wing in january, citing Unnamed White House sources, reports that staffers are expected to place nongovernment issued cell phones in lockers at entrances. That sweeps were carried out, going room to room, collecting unauthorized devices. The president tweeted this. Can you believe with all of the made up, unsourced stories i get from the Fake News Media together with the 10 million russian witchhunt, there is no collusion, i now have my best poll numbers in a year. Much of the media may be haspel secured votes after writing to mark warner, condemning the cia Interrogation Programming in which detainees were tortured after the september 11 attacks. She previously refused to condemn the program last week. With the benefit of behind sight and my experience as Senior Agency leader, the enhanced Interrogation Program is not one the cia should have undertaken. After receiving a letter, saying he would support the confirmation, two other Democratic Senators announced they would support haspel as well. The Senate Intelligence committee is expected to vote on her confirmation today. Full senate vote is expected at the end of the week. Lets talk about this with daniel. Good morning. Good morning. Gina haspel securing enough votes to be the next cia director. Before her confirmation hearing process started, we predicted her process would be even more embattled than pompeos, but seems like it is the opposite of that. Why do you think so . Democrats were happy at what they saw in private meetings. They felt like she was a professional that would be a good cia director. She has the support of a lot of obama era intelligence officials and the cia work force. You dont want to have a cia director who cant rally the troops. So i think shes seen as someone who served her country well and wont engage in some of the harsh interrogation and torture techniques that she was accused of participating in. Lets switch gears and talk about some of President Trumps tweeting and now focusing on leakers inside the white house, wanting to crackdown on that, but even though were seeing it seems as if the administration is getting more aggressive towards leakers, wanting to root out any leakers in the white house. Do you think it is actually going to stop . Is the atmosphere in the white house a little too toxic . I think a lot of white house aides want to get out, so they have no incentive to comply with the antileaking edicts that came around. When Raines Priebus was leaving, everyone predicted general kelly would come in, there would be fewer leaks because he has an iron fist. Seems like that hasnt taken hold. Lot of people leak for their own agenda. If you lose a policy battle, you leak to try to stop it in the press. Those incentives havent changed and President Trump is the biggest leaker of them all, so it is hard for him to set a good example. When it starts at the top, he sets the tone. People thought to themselves leaking is okay because he does it as well. Excellent point on leaking inside the white house. Well talk about that more later in the show. Good to see you, daniel. Strong storms roll through the northeast causing damage and power outages. The latest on whats in store today. And we go inside a hospital in gaza following the outburst of violence after the u. S. Embassy opening in jerusalem. We have those stories and more coming up next. Stay with us. Can you love wearing powerful sunscreen . Yes neutrogena® ultra sheer. Unbeatable protection helps prevent early skin aging and skin cancer with a clean feel. The best for your skin. Ultra sheer®. Neutrogena®. Welcome back, everyone. We want to turn again to the violence in the middle east where dozens of palestinians were killed by Israeli Security forces. Joining us live from the gaza strip, correspondent matt bradley. I know you had a chance to visit one of the hospitals, given the fact that the Health Infrastructure was on the verge of collapse, what did you see . Reporter ayman, thanks for having me on. The Health System has been on the verge of collapse for some time, you know as a veteran of reporting in gaza. It has been a ten year blockade, first by israel, then by egypt. The problems here are more than whats happened in the last week. The real issue is some of the Major Technology that most hospitals use in the United States, even in greater israel we take for granted cant come in here or are restricted. A lot of movement of doctors is restricted. Doctors that are well trained want to leave, they get out as soon as they can, find jobs in the emrats and elsewhere. When theres a huge influx of trauma patients, it is difficult for them to handle. Thats what we have seen not just monday but the past seven weeks of protest, thousands and thousands of people injured. Doctors without borders says more than 90 of people shot were shot in the legs. Thats because it is protocol for the israelis to shoot not to kill but shoot to disable someone so they stop rushing the border area. These shots were very accurate. When i was in the hospital, a lot of people complained they couldnt get the advanced surgery needed because they were waiting for it, there were not enough doctors and equipment. I spoke with the head of the emergency room at the Main Trauma Center in the gaza strip. Listen to that. Challenge, big challenge to us as medical Staff Reporter as i mentioned, Doctors Without Borders saying so many people were shot in the legs. A lot of them could have been shot in head, but they were just injured. That means the beleaguered system is even more beleaguered caring for patients that need prosthetics and medical care for years to come. Ayman . Thank you for that report, matt. A dire situation there in gaza now. The Trump Administration has sanctioned the governor of Iran Central Bank for allegedly funneling millions of dollars for activities of hezbollah. The Treasury Department designated them to disrupt the Currency Exchange system that transferred money from Islamic Revolutionary guard to hezbollah. It is separate from sanctions after President Trump announced theyll withdraw from the iran nuclear deal. Steve mnuchin said the banks governor undermined his integrity. Lets check the weather with nbc meteorologist bill karins. The northeast kind of locked in the clouds and rain the next couple days. Not the best for clean up after the storms yesterday. In all, we had over 354 storm reports, including hail. Only two tornadoes reported. Mostly a wind event with trees down. Lightning was also an issue. Sometimes lightning is hitting skyscrapers. How about three at the same time out of philadelphia. Look at that. You dont see that every day. Amazing. Nbc philly, thank you for those pics. Lets get into the forecast. We get the Severe Weather threat and now we have a rain and cloudy, gloomy weather, a lot of moisture up the east coast, a lot of clouds. Rain is hit and miss from areas of the appalachians to washington, d. C. Philadelphia light rain. Severe storms are over. This is gloomy weather patterns into the weekend. Hoping to clear it out by sunday. Saturday looks iffy at best. Through 10 00 a. M. , rain from philadelphia to washington, d. C. Right along the boundary. This pesky low by florida with a possibility of developing into a tropical system a couple of days ago lingers here. All the flow off the waters, continue to get that rain threat, and northern virginia, d. C. , philadelphia, baltimore. You could get significant rain in days ahead. This is through friday. Red is three inches of rain, pink four inches of rain. Thats a hefty rainfall over three to four days. Also great weather out there today. Usually one coast is struggling, west coast is great. Even the middle of the country is warm. Record heat for san antonio and house speaker. The weather that was harrowing went from 89 degrees in new york city and sunny and beautiful to dark, cloudy. I thought it was best everybody be inside at that moment. Thanks, bill. Historic effort by king james in beantown. Would it be enough. The lightning look to get back on track versus washington. Details next in sports. With a healthy diet. And exercise. And maybe even, unproven fish oil supplements. Not all omega3s are clinically proven or the same. Discover prescription omega3 vascepa. The one thats this pure. And fda approved. Look. Vascepa looks different. Because it is different. Its pure epa. 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Lady luck was with the suns, followed by sacramento, atlanta, memphis, dallas rounding out the top five picks. Turning to stanley cup hockey. Tampa bay beat the caps 42. Cuts the lead in the series to one game. And seattle allstar second base man cano suspended 80 games without pay by Major League Baseball testing positive for a banned substance. He denies using performance enhancing drugs, saying it was given to him by a licensed doctor to treat a medical ailment. He said he would accept the suspension that begins immediately. Thanks. More on north koreas decision to scrap high level talks with south korea, what it means for the upcoming summit between President Trump and kim jongun. Plus, the Trump Administration eliminating a top Cyber Security position. What it means for the National Securi