TAPPER: Let's turn to the summit on Wednesday with North Korea.
Vice President Pence just said a few weeks ago -- quote -- "We still await concrete steps by North Korea to dismantle the nuclear weapons."
Researchers at Stanford University, as you know, estimate that North Korea added about seven nuclear weapons last year.
What does North Korea need to do at this summit, what do they need to pledge to do for you to consider it a success?
POMPEO: You have to go back to where we entered this in the Trump administration to think about the path forward.
We have always known this would take time and it would be a step forward, and slower than the world has demanded, right? This is a U.N. Security Council resolution that we're attempting to achieve by getting North Korea fully denuclearized. We started when the Obama administration had a policy, which was
essentially test, pray and cower, right? Let them test missiles, let them test nuclear weapons, pray they stop, and cower when the North Koreans made a threat.
POMPEO: Not remotely what this administration has done. And they didn't build out a coalition, an enormous global coalition we built out through the United Nations, to put that pressure in place to allow us to begin to have what have been real negotiations over the past now six or seven months.
I'm hopeful that, when President Trump and Chairman Kim get together, they will make a big step towards realizing what Chairman Kim promised. He promised he would denuclearize. We hope he will make a big step towards that in the week ahead.
TAPPER: So, what would a big step be? What's the -- what's the kind of pledge that they need to do?
I mean, last summit, it was nice, and the remains of U.S. service members were brought back to United States, but there wasn't any concrete step in terms of denuclearization.
POMPEO: I concur.
Look, we have got work to do on the denuclearization pillar. We have got remains back. We have had testing stopped. Those are all good things. Tension along the border is reduced, if you ask the military leaders, frankly, on both sides, from South and Korea North Korea. Tensions are reduced up.
There are many things he could do to demonstrate his commitment to denuclearization. Our negotiating team was on the ground the last three days. And they will be on the ground again today. I will be there tomorrow to continue these discussions.
There are -- I don't want to get into the details of what's being proposed, what the offers and counteroffers may be. But a real step, a demonstrable, verifiable step is something that I know President Trump is very focused on achieving.
TAPPER: So tensions in the peninsula have alleviated, but your successor, CIA Director Gina Haspel, told Congress -- Congress last month that North Korea is -- quote -- "committed to developing a long- range nuclear armed missile that would pose a direct threat to the United States."
And President Trump after the last summit said -- he tweeted -- quote -- "There is no longer a nuclear threat from North Korea."
Does he still believe there's no longer a nuclear threat from North Korea, even though Gina Haspel, the CIA director, says North Korea is committed to creating this missile to hit the United States?
POMPEO: Having been the CIA director not too terribly long ago...
POMPEO: ... I'm very familiar with the fact pattern.
We do know the history. We know the history of the North Koreans making promises and making commitments, lying, taking American money, when President Clinton said,we have got this resolved back in 1994.
This administration is not going to do that. We -- we have charted a different path. Frankly, we have been criticized for taking that path, where we work, we negotiate, and then the two people who can actually effectuate the denuclearization of North Korea and a brighter future for the North Korean people will gather for a second time.
We have economic sanctions in place. We know the standard for relieving those sanctions. And I'm very hopeful that we will make a substantial step towards achieving the full denuclearization in a verifiable way in North Korea.
The South Koreans, the Japanese have been great partners in this, and we're very hopeful we can get a good outcome.
TAPPER: Do you -- do you think North Korea remains a nuclear threat?
POMPEO: Yes.
TAPPER: But the president said he doesn't.
POMPEO: That's not what he said.
I mean, I know -- I know precisely...
TAPPER: He tweeted: "There's no longer a nuclear threat from North Korea."
POMPEO: Right. What -- what he said is that the -- what he said was that the efforts that had been made in Singapore, this commitment that Chairman Kim, may have substantially taken down the risk to the American people.
It's the mission of the secretary of state and the president of the United States to keep the American people secure. We're aiming to achieve that.
TAPPER: OK. I mean, that's just a direct quote, but I want to move on. Just a few days ago, you said sanctions against North Korea won't be lifted until -- quote -- "We're confident that we have substantially reduced that risk," the risk of a nuclear attack.
But that standard, a substantial reduction of risk, it seems different from what you said just last June. Take -- take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, June 13, 2018)
POMPEO: We're going to get complete denuclearization, and only then will there be relief from the sanctions.
TAPPER: So, I guess the question is, has the Trump administration changed the conditions for sanction relief from complete denuclearization, as you said in that clip, to substantial reduction of risk?
POMPEO: No, Jake, there's no change.
Remember, these sanctions cover a broad array of activities. The core economic sanctions, the sanctions that prevent countries from conducting trade, creating wealth for North Korea, those sections are definitely going to remain in place.
There are other things we could do, exchanges of people, lots of other ways that North Korea is sanctioned today, that, if we get a substantial step and move forward, we could certainly provide an outlet which would demonstrate our commitment to the process as well.
TAPPER: So it's kind of a sliding scale, substantial reduction, some sanctions are relieved, but not all, and then complete denuclearization, more sanctions are relieved? Is that right?
POMPEO: Jake, remember, the -- the core sanctions, the core U.N. Security Council resolution sanctions, we have said consistently full verified denuclearization, that's the standard for relieving those sections. That policy has not changed since -- I think since the day President Trump took office.
TAPPER: Take a listen to what the president's director of national intelligence said just last month about the threat from North Korea.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAN COATS, U.S. DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE: We currently assess that North Korea will seek to retain its WMD capabilities and is unlikely to completely give up its nuclear weapons and production capabilities, because its leaders ultimately view nuclear weapons as critical to regime survival.
TAPPER: How do you convince Kim to give up something that he thinks is critical to his regime's survival? What is the United States offering that's better than that?
POMPEO: We have made it very plain to Chairman Kim the alternative to giving up his nuclear weapons is remaining a pariah state, remaining a nation that is unable to trade, unable to grow, unable to take care of its own people.
We have made the argument that it would be far better, far better for Chairman Kim himself, his senior leadership, all of the people for North Korea. We have also shared with him that we are happy to make sure that North Korea's security assurances -- they're worried about China, that the security assurances that they need can be provided in a way that is reasonable.
And we have also told them there will be -- there will be real opportunities, that countries from around the world will come, make his economy one that looks more like South Korea's economy than the one that exists in North Korea today.
Those are the kinds of things. I have had these conversations. I have been with Chairman Kim, I think, more hours now than anybody, including Dennis Rodman.
"They say a restless body can hide a peaceful soul.
A voyager, ad a settler, they both have a distant goal.
If I explore the heavens, or if I search inside.
Well, it really doesn't matter as long as I can tell myself
I've always tried."
Like a roller in the ocean, life is motion
Move on
Like a wind that's always blowing, life is flowing
Move on
Like the sunrise in the morning, life is dawning
Move on
How I treasure every minute
Being part of it, being in it
With the urge to move on
A planned working lunch between President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un appears to have been canceled, and a Trump press conference from the Hanoi summit has been brought forward by two hours: https://cnn.it/2EiF15D
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As U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un held their summit in Vietnam, the narrow focus on nuclear weapons obscured a major danger: Kim holds the whip in a three-ring circus of weapons of mass destruction. The other two rings, adjacent and in many ways more frightening, feature chemical weapons and — above all — biological threats.
The North Koreans are suspected by U.S. and South Korean intelligence agencies of holding substantial amounts of a variety of biological agents including smallpox, botulism, typhoid and anthrax.
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The Conservative Political Action Conference opens its annual gathering of conservatives to hear from a cross-section of government officials. Speakers today include Lindsey Graham, Rick Perry and Larry Kudlow.
The Conservative Political Action Conference opens its annual gathering of conservatives to hear from a cross-section of government officials. Speakers today include Lindsey Graham, Rick Perry and Larry Kudlow.
Envoys to the UN from France and Germany say there is no need to revise sanctions on North Korea. The two countries currently jointly chair the UN Security Council.
German Ambassador Cristoph Heusgen and French Ambassador Francois Delattre spoke at a news conference on Friday.
Heusgen was asked about the Council's response to the second US-North Korea summit, which failed to produce an agreement. He said he sees no need to change the present sanctions.
He pointed out the tough measures had helped bring North Korea to negotiations in Hanoi.
Delattre also indicated the sanctions would stay in place.
The Council last year gave up on holding a conference on human rights in the North, due to a lack of support.
At least nine Security Council members must agree for such a meeting to take place.
Asked about the possibility of a meeting in future, Delattre appeared skeptical. He cited reluctance from some member countries including China and Russia.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un left for home on Saturday, wrapping up a visit to the Vietnamese capital Hanoi.
He attended his second summit with US President Donald Trump in the city, but the two-day meeting ended on Thursday with no agreement.
On the last day of his stay, Kim left his hotel and visited the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, where the body of the Vietnam's founding father lies.
His visit to the mausoleum has been seen as confirmation of his country's longstanding friendship with Vietnam, as his late grandfather Kim Il Sung was on good terms with Ho Chi Minh.
The city of Hiroshima has been forced to postpone plans to carry out preservation work on the Atomic Bomb Dome after receiving no expressions of interest from specialist companies.
The city government was hoping to begin work on the site, which has UNESCO World Heritage listing, by the end of March.
The dome was built more than 100 years ago and was mostly destroyed by the atomic bomb dropped on the city in 1945, at the end of World War Two.
The city wants to reinforce its steel structures and brickwork walls.
In February, it invited more than 10 firms with experience in preserving cultural properties to bid for the work. None of them responded.
City officials say that they will hold another round of bidding soon after relaxing some of their requirements so that more companies can take part.
Officials suspect a shortage of workers in the construction industry is one of the reasons for the failed bidding process.
The city has also had problems getting companies to bid on rebuilding work for an area damaged by heavy rain and landslides in July last year.
You know, it’s the greatest honor of my life to serve as Vice President to a President who gets up every day and fights to keep the promises that he made to the American people. (Applause.)
I mean, think about it: This President promised to get this economy moving again. And working with Republican majorities in the Congress, in our first two years, President Trump has cut more federal red tape than any President in American history. (Applause.) We’ve unleashed American energy, and now the United States is the largest producer of oil and natural gas in the world. (Applause.)
Under the President’s strong leadership, we’ve forged new trade deals that finally put American jobs and American workers first. And with the support of this generation of conservatives, President Trump signed the largest tax cut and tax reform in American history. (Applause.) That’s promises made and promises kept!
We cut taxes across the board for working Americans, for American businesses, and we cut out the core of Obamacare. The individual mandate is gone. (Applause.) And the results have been amazing.
As I stand before you today, the American economy is booming. (Applause.) In just over two years, businesses large and small have created 5.3 million new jobs, including over 480,000 good-paying manufacturing jobs that the other side said would never come back. (Applause.)
Unemployment has hit a 50-year low. And more Americans are working today than ever before in the history of this country. (Applause.) The unemployment rate for women has hit a 55-year low. And the unemployment rate for Asian Americans, Hispanic Americans, and African Americans have reached the lowest level ever recorded in American history. (Applause.) And the wages of working Americans are rising at a faster pace than they have in more than a decade.
Under President Donald Trump, working Americans are winning again. The forgotten men and women of America are forgotten no more. (Applause.)
Everywhere you look, confidence is back, jobs are coming back. In a word, America is back — and we’re just getting started! (Applause.)
But for all the progress we’ve made, President Trump has no higher priority than the safety and security of the American people. And from the first days of this administration, this President has worked to make the strongest military in the history of the world stronger still. And last year, President Trump signed the largest investment in our national defense since the days of Ronald Reagan. (Applause.)
We’re modernizing our nuclear arsenal, updating missile defense, and before the year is out, President Donald Trump will launch the sixth branch of our armed forces, the United States Space Force. (Applause.) Under this Commander-in-Chief, we’ll make sure that America is as dominant in space as we are on land and air and sea.
So, we’re rebuilding our military, we’re restoring the arsenal of democracy, and we’re once again giving our soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines, and Coast Guard the resources they need to accomplish their mission and come home safe. (Applause.)
And we’re also standing with our veterans and all the men and women who have worn the uniform of the United States. And we restored accountability to the VA. (Applause.) We’re finally giving our heroes access to the world-class healthcare they earned in the uniform of the United States. Veterans Choice is here! (Applause.)
And in this administration, we’re also standing every day with the brave men and women of law enforcement, and we’ve been giving all those who stand on the Thin Blue Line the resources and the respect they deserve every single day. (Applause.) And that includes the courageous men and women of Customs and Border Protection — (applause) — who put their lives on the line every single day. Under this President and this administration, we will never abolish ICE. (Applause.)
You know, as the President has said many times: If you don’t have a border, you don’t have a country. And since day one of our administration, we’ve been working to remove dangerous criminals from our streets in record numbers, enforcing our immigration laws, and working to secure our border. And we’ve already started to build that wall. (Applause.)
And I’ll make you a promise: Before we’re done, we’re going to build it all. (Applause.)
AUDIENCE: Build that wall! Build that wall! Build that wall!
THE VICE PRESIDENT: Oh, we’re building it. (Laughter.) As the President often says, “Don’t worry about it.” (Laughter.)
Make no mistake about it, folks: No matter what you hear from the Democrats and their allies in the media, we have a crisis at our southern border, and it’s like nothing we’ve ever seen before.
