president and this administration, really the world, wants north korea to finally step down with regard to its nuclear process. john? >> all right, dana bash. fascinating interview from right there in the demilitarized zone in north korea, between north korea and south korea. the vice president with a message that military action might be on the table, but a different message coming from inside the white house. cnn's athena jones is there. and athena, we have heard from the national security adviser maybe some different language than the vice president. >> reporter: hi, john. that's right. h.r. mcmaster, the national security adviser, putting the emphasis on nonmilitary options. but john, the central question in all of this, or a big central question in all of this is what china will do. will china do more? president trump has made it clear he wants to see china step up pressure on north korea to rein in its nuclear ambitions, and he believes china can do so because china is the north's main trading partner. the north relies heavily on china when it comes to trade. but the president has acknowledged in recent days that even china may not have a magic bullet here. what is clear from the perspective of the president's national security team is that some sort of action is going to be necessary. watch what h.r. mcmaster had to say about this. >> and i think it's really the consensus with the president, our key allies in the region, japan and south korea in particular, but also the chinese leadership, that this problem's coming to a head. and, so, it's time for us to undertake all actions we can, short of a military option, to try to resolve this peacefully. >> so there you heard h.r. mcmaster talk about undertaking all actions short of a military option. that is the goal. the problem here, john, as you know, is that this problem, this north korea foreign policy challenge is one that has vexed the past several administrations. you hear talk of military options, but you also hear talk of diplomatic and economic pressure. so far, diplomatic and economic sanctions have not achieved the desired result, which is forcing north korea, or convincing north korea, to halt its nuclear program and taking steps towards the denuclearization of the korean peninsula. the real question is what can be done now to make that happen, what different approach will this new administration have that could prove successful. we have to wait and see what that approach is going to be. john? >> all right, indeed. athena jones for us at the white house. let's talk about this. joining me now, tony blinken, cnn global affairs analyst, form former deputy secretary of state. tony, it's interesting, we heard the vice president say the area of strategic patience is over, it didn't work. that was yours. that was the obama administration that tried to exercise strategic patience with north korea, you know. in the last few months, we've seen more nuclear tests from north korea, more new missile launches. so, is the vice president right? did strategic patience fail? >> well, you know, successive administrations going back to the 1990s have not managed, unfortunately, to rein in north korea's nuclear ambitions. but in fact, the strategic patience era really ended more than a year ago, when under the obama administration, we began a sustained, comprehensive effort to put pressure across the board on north korea. first trying to get china to leverage its own influence. that's the most important factor, because virtually all of north korea's trade is with china, but also to get countries around the world to sever their economic, diplomatic, and political relations with north korea. and we went systematically with south korea and japan to countries on virtually every continent to get them to remove north korean guest workers who were sending back hundreds of millions of dollars in remittances to north korea to fund the nuclear program, to kick out diplomats, to prevent the north korean airline from landing or its ships from docking. that was a systemic, comprehensive, quiet effort to deny north korea the revenues that it needs to fund the program and for kim jong-un to continue to buy off elites. so what i heard today from the vice president, and i thought his words were on the mark, is actually a continuation of what we started more than a year ago. >> so, while they're saying they're doing things differently, you're basically just saying, no, the trump administration does not have a different policy when it comes to north korea? >> i think that's right. there is no silver bullet. we can talk about a military preemptive strike, but that is fraught with peril and fraught with danger. first, we don't know where all of the nuclear program is. what we do know is buried under mountains and deep under ground. they increasingly have mobile missiles that can be rolled out in a matter of minutes, propelled with solid fuel. and as a result, it's very hard to take that program out preemptively. even if we could, john, because north korea has so much artillery poised just 30 miles from seoul, even if we manage to take out the nuclear program preemptively, they could probably get off a salvo of conventional weapons against seoul and decimate the population, and by the way, our own soldiers who are there. so, this talk about a military solution sounds good, but in reality, it's very, very dangerous. >> how seriously did the obama administration ever consider a military solution? >> oh, like this administration, we looked at every single option. and of course, in extremes, you have to be prepared to do it and to use it, and we have to be prepared. that's why i think the trump administration was right, for example, to send the "vinson," that group into the seas there. that makes very good sense. continuing to put in missile defenses makes good sense, continuing, as necessary, to ratchet up sanctions, including, if necessary, against anyone from china, for example, who's engaged in business with north korea. that may prove necessary. all of that makes good sense, and what i heard the vice president say today is they are looking to ramp up pressure across the board against north korea. and that's exactly what we were doing. >> we saw north korea with a failed missile launch over the weekend. "the new york times" has done some astounding reporting that under the obama administration, this idea of sabotage of the entire north korean missile and nuclear program was undertaken. can you shed any light on that? is this failed missile launch perhaps an example of efforts that you started inside the obama administration? >> i can't shed any light on that. thanks. >> can't? won't? >> cannot. >> cannot. will not. but certainly, it is safe to say that is the type of thing that the united states might engage on around the world, correct? i mean, one of the ways that you can stop missile programs and prevent launches is by trying to make sure they never work in the first place. >> look, we look at all means necessary to protect the country, to protect our partners and allies in the region, and again, as we heard from both vice president pence and the national security adviser, general mcmaster, we want to do this short of using force, because the perils of using force, as i laid out, are quite, quite serious. so, we'll look at everything. >> tony blinken, we respect your restraint. thanks so much for being with us. >> thanks, john. good to be with you. all right, police officers say he murdered a man and posted the video of the crime on facebook. now they want more information. there is a manhunt now in at least five states for this man considered armed and dangerous. we have new details just ahead. and neil gorsuch with his first day hearing cases on the supreme court. what's that like? and what important cases did they just decide? plus, we are live from the south lauvent white houwn of th. the easter egg roll under way. we expect to hear from the president any minute. a plant mr is to always keep track of your employees. micromanage them. make sure they're producing. woo! employee of the month! you really shouldn't leave their side. vita coco coconut water, hydration comes naturally. only tylenol® rapid release gels have laser drilled holes. they release medicine fast, for fast pain relief. tylenol® call for a free quote today. liberty stands with you™. liberty mutual insurance. massachusetts. he's a member of the foreign relations committee. senator, happy patriots' day. >> thank you. same to you, john. >> thank you very much. >> two bostonians. >> i appreciate it. listen, "the new york times" calls north korea the cuban missile crisis in slow motion. so, my question to you is do you trust the president to handle such a crisis? >> i think because of the unevenness of his statements and positions which he has taken thus far, it is highly unclear as to whether or not he has the ability to be able to think this thing through in a way that avoids an actual military showdown between the united states and north korea. president kennedy and robert f. kennedy, they were able to figure it out and ultimately found a diplomatic resolution. but when vice president pence yesterday says in south korea that the north koreans should pay attention to the bombs which we just dropped in syria and in afghanistan, that's saber rattling that is only going to enhance the paranoia in north korea and intensify the likelihood that they are going to move towards more ballistic missile testing and towards more nuclear weapons testing, so that is not going to take us down the correct path. instead, what we should be talking about are direct negotiations with the north koreans in return for the chinese dramatically imposing crippling sanctions on the north koreans. that would be a far better way for us to get a peaceful resolution of this conflict. >> you seem concerned with the words used. and yes, the vice president did say pay attention to what happened inside syria and afghanistan, but has anything this administration has done, any cause for concern? given you yes, they send the "carl vinson," the carrier, up there, but the obama administration did that type of thing. they seemed to be pressuring the chinese. the obama administration did just that type of thing. >> well, president trump has made it very clear that if the chinese do not help us, that he's intending on solving the problem unilaterally, and there has been talk from secretary tillerson of the use of preemptive force against the north koreans, and all of this gets internalized by the north korean leadership, and it takes us further and further away from a diplomatic, rather than a military, resolution of this issue. and again, we just can't ignore the fact that vice president pence did mention the bombing in syria and in afghanistan just yesterday on the anniversary of kim jong-un's grandfather's death. >> but why shouldn't he? why shouldn't he make the case that the united states is in his mind projecting strength in other parts of the world? wouldn't that be a message that might give kim jong-un pause? >> there is no military resolution of the conflict in north korea. they are already a nuclear power. we have to find a way to negotiate with the chinese a resolution of this issue. otherwise, the consequences could be that like in the cuban missile crisis, with the wrong steps that are taken, it could, in fact, wind up with a thermonuclear confrontation that would not be good for the korean peninsula, and it definitely would not be good for the united states of america. that is why there has to be a de-escalation, a partnership with china, direct negotiations by the united states with north korea. that's a formula that could produce a diplomatic resolution. >> if we can shift geographic focuses for our last question here on syria right now. i know you would like congress to decide whether or not it wants to authorize the use of force for future possible action inside syria. if congress does take a vote on that, which it did not do under the obama administration, and probably should have done under the obama administration -- but if there was a vote on the authorization of use of force, would you give the president the power for further military action inside syria? >> i think we should debate the authorization for the use of military force on the floor of the house and senate. if any such authorization included the ability for the president to be able to deploy american combat troops on the ground inside of syria, then i would vote no on that resolution. this has to be a conflict that gets resolved with the forces of those who have a stake in the outcome ultimately towards the goal of driving the russians towards pressuring assad to the table to talk to opposition forces, but that should not include american combat forces. they are not necessary. >> senator ed markey from massachusetts, great to have you with us, sir. >> thank you. you're welcome. all right, we do have breaking news this morning. new leads to investigators of a suspect who posted the murder of a suspect on facebook. you're looking at steve stephens. the search now spans five states. residents of ohio, pennsylvania, new york, indiana, michigan, they are told there is every reason to assume that this man is armed and dangerous. investigators have revealed now that they spoke to steffephens the phone shortly after the murder once he was on the run. sarah gannon live in cleveland with the latest developments. sarah? >> reporter: john, that's right, moments ago cleveland police telling us they did speak on the phone to 37-year-old suspect steve stephens in the early hours of the manhunt but have since lost touch, and they are now urging friends and family who may have been in contact with him to call police. take a listen. >> if there is somebody that's helping steve, or if you think you're helping steve, you're really not. you're going to get yourself in trouble along with him. the only way for you to help him is to give us the information to bring him in safely, peacefully. so, if your friend or family members and you have contact with steve and you think you're helping him, the only way to help him is to give us the information or to talk him, convince him into turning himself in. >> reporter: john, this is now a multistate manhunt involving the u.s. marshals office. police in erie, pennsylvania, also confirming that they're investigating a ping that was tracked from the suspect's cell phone. authorities are now looking into the possibility that he may be headed east. and as they continue to investigate here in cleveland, the investigation surrounding the victim here, 74-year-old robert godwin sr., he was simply walking home on the sidewalk after celebrating easter sunday with his family. and steve stephens drove up beside him. you can see in the video that he posted to facebook, he walked right up to him and shot him in the head. he then posted that video to facebook. and as you can imagine, people across the country saw those 30 seconds of absolutely gut wrenching, horrific video, and began calling the cleveland police department to report what they had seen. as the manhunt began here, he continued posting on facebook, at one point claiming that he killed 15 people. now, to be clear, police here say they have no evidence to support that claim, just the one victim, robert godwin sr., john. >> awful for the family of robert godwin sr., and our hearts go out to that family. sara ganim in cleveland. again, the word about steve stephens, he could be in a lot of places. just some alarming news this morning. in the meantime, we are moments away from the president addressing the crowd. you can see it there on the south lawn of the white house. this is his first easter egg roll as president. we are expected to hear from both the president and the first lady. that's coming up. all right, live pictures of the president from the south lawn of the white house. also a special guest right there, the easter bunny addressing the crowd in the trump family's first easter egg roll. barron trump there also with melania down from new york. listen in. ♪ o say can you see by the dawn's early light ♪ ♪ what so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming ♪ ♪ whose broad stripes and bright stars ♪ ♪ through the perilous fight ♪ o o're the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming ♪ ♪ and the rockets' red glare ♪ the bombs bursting in air ♪ gave proof through the night that our flag was still there ♪ ♪ o say does that star-spangled banner yet wave ♪ ♪ o're the land of the free and the home of the brave ♪ [ cheers and applause ] >> what a great voice. thank you very much. great job. i want to thank everybody. this is the 139th easter egg roll. think of it, 139. it began a long time ago, 1878. and we will be stronger and bigger and better as a nation than ever before. we're right on track. you see what's happening, and we are right on track. so, thank you, everybody, for being here. we're going to do cards for soldiers in a little bit. melania and baron and by self are going to go downstairs, sign some cards to our great troops, the cards for troops, and we look forward to that. and then we're going to come out and join you, enjoy your company for a roll, a great easter egg roll. and i don't know if we're going to be successful, but i know a lot of people, they're going to be successful. i've seen those kids, and they're highly, highly competitive. that i can tell you. i just want to thank first lady melania trump. she's really worked hard on this. she has been working on this for a long time to make it perfect, and we wanted to keep it just right, so i want to just ask her to speak, but before she speaks, i want to congratulate her, this wonderful, wonderful day we're going to have. a lot of people going to have a great time. so, melania, thank you very much, and baron, thank you very much for being here. thank you very much. first lady melania trump. take care, everybody. >> thank you. welcome to the white house. this is the first time that my husband and i hosting this wonderful tradition. and it's great that you are all with us today. i hope you have a great time with many activities. i want to thank military band, all the staff and volunteers who worked tirelessly to ensure that you have memorable experience. i want to thank all the military with us today and -- [ cheers and applause ] and all military in this great nation and servicemen and servicewomen all around the world who are keeping us safe. as we renew this tradition, thank you for joining us. on behalf of the president and barron, we wish you a great, fun and beautiful day that's coming ahead of us, and happy easter. thank you. god bless. >> happy easter and have a great, great time. have a great day. thank you, folks. thank you very much. i'm coming down. i'm going to be joining you. thank you very much. my whole family's here. thank you. >> all right, the president of the united states and the first lady speaking on the south lawn of the white house along with the easter bunny, who remained silent during those remarks right there. but it was interesting to see the president and first lady for the first time hosting the easter egg roll, which is a big, big washington event. thousands of people look forward to this every year. they come to the white house -- kids, military families, members of congress, local schools. they flood the south lawn to be a part of this. also an interesting sight there, barron trump, the trumps' 10-year-old son who lives up in new york city, goes to school in new york city. i believe this is his first public white house event, at least that i can remember, since the inauguration itself, the first time we've seen him there as part of the festivities. our kate bennett is on the south lawn right now in the throng of people right there. and this was interesting to see. i don't know that we've seen mrs. trump yet host a white house-specific event quite like this, kate. >> reporter: that's exactly right, john. this is her first big public event. she was very welcoming. she said the president actually thanked her personally, as we heard, saying that she's worked really hard on this for a long, long time to get it just right. you mentioned barron. he is here today. and actually, a couple of the events that are around the lawn today are inspired by barron trump's likes. one of them is soccer. so, there are members of the d.c. united soccer team down lower on the lawn doing some drills, so you can hang out there. and another thing that's interesting is there is a coding station with minecraft, which is another, i guess popular activity with barron trump. so, you can go down there and learn how to code and play some minecraft. but there are lots of different activities. you can see the crowd's really filled in to come watch the president and first lady speak on the porch there. >> and one of the things we've seen in the past is we've seen president obama and first lady michelle obama, when they were in the white house, they would read to kids. they would take part in some of the physical activities on the lawn itself. unclear whether or not we will see that from the trump family, but one thing we will see is they will work on cards to u.s. troops there. we can see the cam ares trying to get a glimpse of the president right now. you can see the top of his head right there. not much more of the president. kate, we will keep our eye on the south lawn of the white house. if the president and first lady get involved in any of the activities there, please let us know. we'll come back to you there. in the meantime, i'm joined by cnn political commentator bacarri sellers, also alice stewart, cnn political commentator, republican strategist. julian zelzer, professor at princeton university. i don't know if any of you have ever lived or worked in d.c. alice, i think you're the most likely to have spent time in washington, d.c. just tell our audience how important the easter egg roll is to the culture and society of washington. >> well, living here now, i can say that it's more of a fun event for parents to bring their kids to. and certainly, it's starting off to a great start today. there is still the big mystery surrounding today's ceremony. who is in the bunny costume? sean spicer, melissa mccarthy? that remains to be seen. but this is something that is a fun tradition, something presidents and families have enjoyed doing. a lot of white house staffers and those in the administration have the opportunity to bring their kids. i think there's been little too much emphasis put on whether or not they will be prepared for this event, but clearly, it's off to a good start. >> i agree with you. the nation's security and nuclear deterrent does not depend on whether or not there are 20,000 wooden easter eggs ordered in time. julian zellers, some of the pageantry surrounding the white house, the easter egg roll historically do matter. there is a sense of continuity from one administration to the next. >> yeah, this in particular matters. it was always a sign of the openness of the white house. it was a moment for people to come in and to surround the grounds in a way that they don't ordinarily. and it's less than it was before. i mean, we live in an era of national security requirements that limits what we can do. so i think that's how it matters. and it matters for the first lady. it's often been a place we see the first lady and we hear from her. and in this case, given that she's been relatively absent from the first 100 days, i think that was just something notable. >> all right. bacarri sellers, i'm going to spare you commentary on the easter egg roll. and we note, it is an easter egg roll, not a hunt. for whatever reason, during the nixon administration, it became a roll, not a hunt. but bacarri, i want to shift gears to another subject now, which is sort of presidential travel, what the president has done and where he has chosen to do it, his first 85 days in office, because he's actually gone fewer places than past presidents. president trump just visiting seven states in his first 85 days, no foreign trips. this compares to president obama, who at this point had been to nine different states and done one international trips. and george w. bush actually covered the first eight months of the administration. at this point, he had been to 23 states. he had been a lot of places. so, what does this say to you that the president isn't doing quite as much traveling? >> well, first and foremost, i do want to say that the images coming from the white house today were glowing with the first family, the first lady, and barron trump, so i was really pleased to see that. but when we're talking about his travel or the lack thereof, i think it's a direct correlation between the fact that he has no major legislative accomplishments to show, either. in your first 100 days, you have this honeymoon period, where in fact, he has both houses, the united states senate and the united states house of representatives, who are controlled by the republican party. however, his inability to pass or get close to the finish line on any major pieces of legislation is indicative by him not going around, building support in these states for his priorities. donald trump cannot pass legislation in mar-a-lago and washington, d.c. he has to go out and build this public sentiment in his favor, and he simply has not done that. i don't know if it's going to get any better, because we have these special elections, and if these special elections remain close or republicans actually lose one, you'll see republicans run away from his agenda even quicker than they are now. >> just so you know, we are looking at pictures from the south lawn of the white house. and all the trump kids appear to be there. i see donald trump, i see eric trump -- donald trump jr., tiffany trump just there before. not ivanka or jared kushner. of course, ivanka trump is jewish. i don't know if she's taking part in the easter egg roll on the south lawn or not, but many of the trump kids there taking part. and the president himself taking part in some of the festivities there, to be sure. professor zelzer -- oh, that actually is the ceremonial whistle that begins the easter egg roll. that's something every past president has done as well. so just saw it there. professor, on presidential travel it may be that this president doesn't need to travel as much. you know, he may or may not have things he is selling, what bakari sellers was talking about, but he seems to be willing, and perhaps able to sell it from the white house or mar-a-lago. >> i think that's right. a big part of it is the lack of legislative agenda, but the other part is a president who's trying to do this, to try to sell himself and his policies and ideas through twitter, through television, through social media, rather than some of the more traditional mechanisms. and we don't know, the verdict's out if that will work, but i think he's very invested in continuing some of what he did in the campaign as a mode of governance. >> john? >> i keep looking down at the picture there. not taking my eyes off all of you. i'm just trying to see if we can get a sense of what the president is doing. alice, you can jump in on that, but i also wanted to ask you about the other major political event, besides the easter egg roll on the south lawn of the white house house, happening early this week, the special election to fill the seat of tom price, the secretary of human services. you are from there, you know this is a race people are watching very closely. you know this is a seat that's been held by democrats from the '70s, and it's a race that republicans are nervous about right now. >> it is, and it is going to be a fascinating race to watch. but here's the key -- the democrat in this race getting certainly a lot of media attention, a lot of star power coming down, but that didn't help hillary clinton, and he has to get 50 plus 1 tomorrow. and if he's not able to do that, which i don't believe that he will, he's not going to win in a runoff with the republican. right now we have several good republican candidates between handle gray and many others, so they're looking strong and i see this going into a runoff, which is not good for the democrat. they're trying to make it a referendum on donald trump, trying to show that people across the country are frustrated with donald trump, and so far, they're saying not so much, we're okay with how this leadership goes. and one quick thing on the presidential travel. ari fleischer made a great statement in "the new york times" today talking about the use of air force one. it's not -- you don't fly around as president to get frequent flyer miles. you do it to make a point. and to bakari's point, he hasn't had any great successes or victories to date with regard to health care and tax reform, but i think once he starts ticking those off, we will see him out and about much more. and right now he's communicating through twitter to his followers. >> bakari sellers on georgia six, democrats don't get a participation ribbon. he may do better than past democrats in the district, but without a victory there, will democrats really have anything to point to? >> no, i think your premise is fundamentally flawed. if you look at kansas, where we didn't win, we made up 20 points, and that's in extremely, extremely deep red kansas. as we move towards georgia and then look at montana down the road, and even in south carolina in the fifth congressional district, you'll see democrats play and play extremely hard in these traditionally deep red states. if we continue to make up 15-20 points, that doesn't bode well for republicans in the midterm elections. i don't have the same consternation, although alice did bring up a good point about the runoff, which i believe will be held in june, if, in fact, mr. ossoff doesn't get to 50% plus one tomorrow. but i will tell you that there are some weak candidates on the republican side in that race, and i do feel as if even if it is a runoff, there will be enough momentum and a good chance for a democrat to win in that race. this isn't over, and democrats are fighting all over the map, even in red country, and that's due to the weakness of president donald trump. >> well, i may be fundamentally flawed, but i'm grateful to have you here. thank you so much for being with us. appreciate it. >> thank you, john. >> thank you. all right, also a new guy in a new job. the junior justice of the supreme court, neil gorsuch, he's on his first day hearing cases. what's on the docket? that's ahead. and for dark spots. rapid tone repair. neutrogena® see what's possible. we have breaking news. it is neil gorsuch's first day hearing cases for the supreme court, and the junior justice, we just learned, has already asked his first questions in oral arguments. joining us, supreme court reporter ariana de vogue. what happened? what was the case? >> reporter: neil gorsuch for the first time, he came out wearing his robe. he sits on the far left wing of the bench, right next to justice sonia sotomayor. he looked at crowd a bit, seemed to be taking it all in for a minute. the chief justices welcomed him and then he thanked his colleagues for all their help in the last week or so. and then a very technical case began about employment discrimination and about 14 minutes in, suddenly, he asked a series of very technical questions. at one point, he said, look, i'm sorry to ask so many questions. this is my last one. so, but this week, besides the arguments today, is an important week for the court. on wednesday we have a big religious liberty case coming up, and conservatives will be watching gorsuch on that. he has a paper trail in the lower court, which makes them feel like he will rule in their favor, eventually. and this week we'll also get some opinion. and if the justices are 4-4 in any of the cases that they've already heard, they're likely to ask for reargument so that gorsuch then can hear these cases and he can, perhaps give the deciding vote. but most importantly, john, this court, after more than a year as being short-staffed, is now back to full strength with gorsuch on the bench, john. >> all right, ariane de vogue for us at the supreme court. ariane, thanks so much. >> reporter: thank you. all right, all of a sudden we've got new language from the president toward trade and china, and we're getting new market reaction this morning. that's next. (short balloon squ) it's ver... sfx: (balloon squeals) ok can we... sfx: (balloon squeals) goodbye! oof, that milk in your coffee was messing with you, wasn't it? try lactaid, it's real milk, without that annoying lactose. good right? yeah. lactaid. the milk that doesn't mess with you. but we've got the get tdigital tools to help. now with xfinity's my account, you can figure things out easily, so you won't even have to call us. change your wifi password to something you can actually remember, instantly. add that premium channel, and watch the show everyone's talking about, tonight. and the bill you need to pay? do it in seconds. because we should fit into your life, not the other way around. go to xfinity.com/myaccount all right, this was moments ago at the white house. president trump on the south lawn. this is the easter egg roll, the trump family's first easter egg roll. you can see the first lady there. just a few minutes ago, the president and first lady welcomed the thousands of people, including children, military families, children from washington, d.c., schools, you know, the families of members of congress, to the white house lawn for this celebration. you can see him now signing some "make america great again" hats there as well. some of his adult children are there. barron trump, his young son from new york city who still lives and goes to school in new york city. he is down for this celebration. this was the first big public event that the trump family and mrs. trump has hosted at the white house. we're keeping our eye on that as they enjoy the celebration. all right, the stock markets, they are up to start the week. not far from investors' minds, apparently, the president's approach to foreign policy. the president wrote this weekend, "why would i call china a currency manipulator when they are working with us on the north korean problem? we will see what happens!" he writes. "cnn money's" cristina alesci joins us now with our "market update." and the one thing that investors had been afraid from the beginning is the possibility of a trade war. any step away from a trade war with china viewed as positive by investors. >> reporter: that's right. it's a major policy reversal, probably disappointing to donald trump's base that he has stepped away from this idea of calling china a currency manipulator. but as you said, investors do find it encouraging because they don't want the u.s. to launch any kind of trade war that would result in retaliation, in making it more difficult for u.s. companies to sell goods into china. that would be, obviously, very bad for major u.s. corporations that do a lot of business in china. but investors are cautiously optimistic. they are looking out and seeing a lot of geopolitical risk out there, and they're unsure of how the administration may handle that. very reassuring this morning that vice president pence out there saying the administration will take a peaceful approach to north korea, but that is a situation that investors are watching right now. also big question marks, obviously, around the middle east. you'll remember when the u.s. launched strikes into syria. the market did dip a little bit. it was a short-lived dip, but it did react. and also, major questions in europe. the rise of populism there is something that investors are paying very close attention to. there are elections in france that investors are focused on right now. so, a lot of unknowns for investors. i would put today's mood as cautiously optimistic. and potentially, the shift away from sole focus on domestic policy to a more global perspective for investors at this point, john. >> all right, cristina alesci for us in washington with one eye on the markets, one eye on policy. thanks so much, cristina. still to come for us, residents in five states on alert. there is a manhunt right now in five states for a man who apparently posted the video of a murder on facebook. shockingly, this morning authorities say that this suspected killer could be in a lot of different places. we'll have an update next. 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