this is an NBC News special report
here's willie geist good morning I'm
Willie Geist in New York this is an NBC
News special report President Trump is
arriving in Singapore as we speak this
morning just 36 hours or so ahead of the
high-stakes summit with North Korea's
Kim jong-un you can see their Air Force
One has just landed at a military
airbase in Singapore Kim jong-un landed
a few hours ahead of President Trump and
already has met with that country's
leader let's get right to NBC's chief
White House correspondent Hallie Jackson
who arrived in Singapore ahead of the
president Hallie good morning
Willie good morning to you in just a
couple of minutes we will see the stairs
pulling up to the door of Air Force One
President Trump will step down he will
be greeted by the Singaporean foreign
minister here and he will begin what
will certainly be an historic trip the
question is how history will judge these
talks between President Trump and Kim
jong-un who is already on the ground as
he mentioned he's already met with the
Singaporean delegation president Trump
is expected to do that here tomorrow and
then we expect for much of the day he
will be in prep he will be holding
briefings with his top staffers
including his national security adviser
John Bolton who have traveled here with
him to Singapore ahead of these
discussions and then we know the big
moment will be Tuesday morning when
these two leaders come face to face
publicly for the first time it is an
interesting contrast Willy given where
the president has just come from given
where Air Force One took off from about
23 hours ago and that's Quebec Canada
for the g7 traditionally a bear hug
America and its closest allies coming
together but this time President Trump
was in the lion's den and on his way
here to Singapore he aimed some really
tough talk toward for example Canadian
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau concerned
over some trade issues that he has of g7
allies raising questions now among his
critics and why the president is talking
so tough against our friends yet trying
to be finding some common ground with
somebody who has long been considered an
enemy in kim jeong-hoon so when you step
back that is the broader geopolitical
context that we are looking at here we
have come a long way Willy since a
little rocket man since fire and fury
this has been the most unpredictable of
meetings presidents don't remember just
a couple of weeks ago called the whole
thing off he said to Kim jong-un hey
right if you change your mind and if you
want to tone down the rhetoric I'm
paraphrasing and sure enough Kim Jong
moon did sending a letter over with his
right-hand man Kim Yong
so Willie that was apparently a warm
greeting President Trump
putting the meeting back on now just 48
hours away
Hallie's stay with us these stairs have
been moved up two airports one we should
see the president united states
deplaning shortly Lester Holt also in
Singapore this morning Lester good
morning to you Willie good morning it's
really happening and it is a surprise
for anyone who has followed the events
of the last certainly the last year and
a half I've made four trips to the
Korean Peninsula in the last 14 months I
recall April of last year anyway to do
nightly news from air base an American
air base in South Korea when we got word
that another missile test another
missile launch had occurred from the
north things were tense the military
they're still on a on a war footing if
you will their motto is ready to fight
tonight but they like the rest of us
watching the diplomatic events overtake
the threat of military confrontation Kim
Jong gun on the ground who has been here
several hours President Trump here now
the president will meet with the prime
minister tomorrow in the same way that
Kim jong-un met with the prime minister
year shortly after his arrival today
he's got of course a large contingent
they're all staying in hotels about a
half mile apart from each other the
negotiations of summit itself will take
place on an island a part of a tourist
island here in Singapore that's where
they'll meet in the morning session
it'll actually be mundane let's see
Monday Eastern Time 9 p.m. at night is
the time that they will begin a meeting
that'll be 9:00 a.m. on Tuesday morning
here the president not expected to make
remarks as he comes down the stairs here
but will again go to his hotel here in
downtown Singapore where as Hallie
mentioned he will begin to get briefings
he will prepare for that meeting with
the prime minister tomorrow from
Singapore and then of course prepare for
the the meeting of areas there's the
president now coming off of Air Force
One a truly historic moment
of course the first lady not
accompanying him on this trip because
she is a cylinder doctor's orders after
her surgery not to fly president said
this is a meeting that he has prepared
his whole life for this is a man who has
certainly distinguished himself as a
negotiator as a businessman and plans to
rely on those instincts there he is
being greeted by the foreign minister
here and other Singapore officials
president has said he'll know in the
first minute of his conversations with
Kim jong-un whether this is going to
happen whether they're gonna make a
connection or not that was his gut
instinct he has tried to tamp down on
expectations of the meeting at the same
time sometimes can't help himself by
dropping little hints that he thinks
this is going to go well he has said
that this is one chance for Kim jong-un
to do something good for his people
yeah president of course coming off that
summit in Canada in which a bad taste
was left in the mouths all around after
the president fired off some tweets
during his journey here at 9,000 mile
trip from Canada to Singapore where it
is Sunday night the president now
getting in his limousine and heading to
his hotel Willie all right Lester hold
in Singapore for us we'll be continuing
his coverage all week on nightly news
tonight and throughout the early part of
next week Lester thank you very much
let's bring in now Jeremy bash an NBC
News national security analyst and
former chief of staff at the CIA and
Pentagon under President Obama
extraordinary pictures here after all
the back-and-forth after all these
months and weeks on again off again the
president and Kim jong-un are in the
same place they're both in Singapore
about 36 hours from now they will sit
down in a room the word historic is
being used it is historic just because
the sitting president United States has
never sat across from a North Korean
leader this way and at least given a
photo-op to that leader what would make
it actually historic though in terms of
beyond the photo-op well if you put the
politics in the pageantry aside really
what would make it history would be a
commitment by the North Koreans to
actually remove nuclear weapons missiles
and chemical
biological weapons from their territory
that would potentially allow for
normalization between North Korea and
South Korea maybe even a declaration of
peace well I think is concerning because
North Korea is so unpredictable so
dangerous that we're gonna walk out of
the summit here Monday night East Coast
time and the president is going to say
we have a commitment to peace a
declaration of a peace treaty and that
without the ironclad commitment from the
North Koreans is just going to be an
empty promise Willy Jerry and bash we
appreciate your perspective this morning
you can get more throughout the day at
nbcnews.com MSNBC and as I said tonight
on NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt
this has been an NBC News special report
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