Nuclear and missile tests in advance of summits with President Trump and south korea. Many Unanswered Questions remain. And in the middle of james comeys barnstorming book tour his infamous memos about his meetings with President Trump get leaked. Surprise, surprise. Both sides immediately claim his memos support their views. Plus, trumps lawyer rule roulette continues with Michael Cohen sidelines. In rides Rudy Giuliani claiming he can end the Mueller Probe in two weeks. And after a racial incident at a starbucks in philadelphia, the company is shutting down all 8,000 u. S. Stores next month for a day of antibias training. But why not all their Stores Worldwide . And bill cosbys retrial for Sexual Assault is not a rerun. Lots of new evidence, including five women who say cosby assaulted them, too. Ill talk to someone who testified to corroborate one of their stories, legendary book publisher judith regan is here. And today the country says goodbye to first lady extraordinaire barbara bush. First, a stunning announcement from north koreas state news agency. North korea will stop Nuclear Tests and launches of Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles, it reads. Kim jongun said the Nuclear Test Site has done its job. This news coming in the aftermath of a secret trip made by cia director mike pompeo to meet with kim over easter and coming prior to a meeting with President Trump which is now in the works. The president , he tweeted last night, quote, this is very good news for north korea and the world. Big progress. Look forward to our summit. Now keep that tweet on the screen for just a moment. Notice whats missing. There is no reference to rocketman or little rocket man which is quite a change in the president s posture. Surely you remember tweets like these. Just a few months ago that were so bombastic and drew such sharp criticism from democrats and members of the establishment Foreign Policy community that senator edward markey, for example, tweeted that this bordered on president ial malpractice. And mrkey continued, quote, we cannot let this war of words result in an actual war. But ive got to ask. Did President Trumps tweets work . Soon after trumps bellicose belittling of kim, north and south korea began communication both about the olympics and borders eventually beginning to negotiate a peace treaty to formally end the korean war after more than 60 years. Now todays news. The substantive successes compared to the escalating tensions during the obama and bush years, they beg a question i raised in the past. Is trumps approach actually working . And that leads me to todays poll question at smerconish. Com. Does President Trump deserve credit for the announcement from kim jongun that north korea will stop Nuclear Tests and launches of Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles . Of course, several other explanations for the recent progress have very little to do with President Trump. The first and most obvious is that kim has now successfully built a nuclear arsenal. And whether President Trump wants to admit it or not, north korea can now wage nuclear war. With that ability comes a large degree of security, especially in a relationship with a nonnuclear capable neighbor. Its also possible that china or russia have gotten kims attention and positively influenced his behavior. Or at the sanctions long in place are actually bringing north korea to its economic knees. The New York Times korea correspondent today writes theres growing evidence that tough new sanctions imposed on north korea to stop its Nuclear Weapons and missile programs have begun to bite and bite hard. So which is it . Fear of trump . The impact of sanctions . Maybe a little of both . Joining me is robert kelly, an american political analyst of Interkorean Affairs and professor of Political Science at Pusan University in south korea. His latest piece for the guardian is titled north Koreas Nuclear pause grist for both doffs and hawks. Professor kelly, what most explains the change weve just seen . I think the longterm pressure of sanctions, i think particularly the president has pushed china hard on this in the last 16 months or so. We know that china is the most important gateway for north korea to the global economy. The north korean economy, despite its talk is really and needs external contact. It puts pressure on the elites. And the president has pushed china on this a lot and the bellicose rhetoric scared the chinese and they are taking this more seriously than in the past. So you think the bellicose rhetoric had an impact on the chinese, and the chinese then leaned on the North Koreans but you dont think you discount that trumps rhetoric had an impact on kim himself . It might have but theres really no empirical evidence to prove that one way or another. Its obvious the Trump Administration would like to claim that kind of credit. Its just so hard to know why the North Koreans make the decisions they do. We know from the past they respond to bellicosity with their own. They have sort of legendary for the rhetoric they employ. So surprised me a lot if it was that. Rather the chinese have been very concerned about north koreas testing record. Very concerned about chernobylstyle event from the north korean testing site which is now sort of in real trouble. A tunnel collapse there. And that coupled with donald trump talking about warfare and t rest of it probably pushed the chinese to lean on the koreans a lot. Maybe he should he is deserving of credit for having impacted the chinese in a way to act. The former advance man, i did advance for papa bush, bush 41, back in the day. The former advance man in me is very interested to see where is this going to take place, the kim trump meeting, and how will it be staged . What are your thoughts . This is turning out to be a real tangle. Its increasingly apparent that when secretary of state pompeo met with the koreans this was the real sticking point. The easiest place would to be put it on the dmz border because that way both sides are close to their own friendly space. It would be remarkable if kim jongun got on a plane and left the country. Thats just something kim hasnt felt comfortable doing in a long time. Might get overthrown in a coup. Ive heard mongolia thrown around. Switzerland and singapore. I have a feeling this is one of those if the kim trump summit doesnt happen, this may be why. Do what the two korean leaders are doing which is meet at panmunjom. What do you think comes out of the summit wherever and whenever it takes place . My sense is the North Koreans are going to look for some deal for sanctions relief. Theres evidence to suggest the sanctions are starting to bite. We dont know but there have been rumors for a while that oil has become more expensive in north korea. So this suggests that pardon me. This suggests that the North Koreans are going to look for sanctions relief or some economic deal. The North Koreans have wanted industrials on a joint Industrial Zone between the two koreas reopened. And in exchange for that, they might be willing to protract this test halt or give some inspection tour of their facilities. Cameras back in there, back in the iaea, Something Like that. Professor kelly, im appreciative of your analysis. Im a little bummed the door is open behind you in south korea and theres been no action thus far. Thats right. I left it open for just a little tension for the viewers but, no, my familiarly is not here tonight. Can you roll it . Come on. One of the greatest were showing it right now, by the way. If youre wondering why im laughing. Were showing the old footage. Sure. Its fun. All right. Thank you, sir, fur your an analys analysis. What are your thoughts . Tweet me at smerconish. Ill read some of the responses throughout the program. Sanctions did not work. Trash talking worked. Joe ferraro, its fair to ask, right . Let me say this. If it had a different result, and if wed been drawn even closer to the brink of nuclear disaster, what would people be saying . Theyd be saying trump, he did it by calling him little rocket man. And i also note that the president is no longer using that moniker. So apparently he thinks it was successful and doesnt want to upset the apple cart. Time for one more if ive got it real quick. Give me a break. Hes done with testing which means hes locked and loaded. Alicia believes that strength comes from reaching that capability. And then i guess weve got to say, well, how did we allow him to get that far . Glass half empty, glass half full. Go to smerconish. Com and answer the question of the day. Does President Trump deserve credit for this announcement by kim jongun that north korea is going to stop its Nuclear Tests and launches of Ballistic Missiles . As Michael Cohen seems on the verge of being indicted, trump adds Rudy Giuliani and a pair of florida heavyweights to his legal team. Where is all this heading . Im going to ask Alan Dershowitz. Metastatic Breast Cancer is relentless, but im relentless too. Mbc doesnt take a day off, and neither will i. And i treat my mbc with new everyday verzenio the only one of its kind that can be taken every day. In fact, verzenio is a cdk4 6 inhibitor for postmenopausal women with hr , her2 mbc, approved, with hormonal therapy, as an everyday treatment for a relentless disease. 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I had a big introduction planned for professor Alan Dershowitz summarizing the crazy week this has been from a legal standpoint, but something just happened and so i asked them to take it out of the prompter and id rather just go with this on the fly. The president has just tweeted about Michael Cohen. Can you put those tweets up and show everybody what he just said. The New York Times and a third rate reporter Maggie Haberman known as a crooked h flunkie who i dont speak to and have nothing to do with are going out of their way to destroy Michael Cohen and his relationship with me in the hope that he will flip. They use nonexistent sources and a drunk, drugged up loser who hates michael, a fine person with a wonderful family. Michael is a businessman for his own account lawyer who ive always liked and respected. Most people will flip if the government lets them out of trouble, even if it means lying or making up stories. Sorry, i dont see michael doing that despite the horrible witch hunt and the dishonest media. Alan dershowitz is the Harvard Law School emeritus professor. Youre good on the fly. Im sorry to catch you cold. But whats your reaction to what the president just tweeted . Hes clearly sending a message of support to Michael Cohen. This is a struggle for the heart, soul and testimony of Michael Cohen. We know the government has incredible leverage over him. First because they raided his office and that raised some concerns. They are going to have to indict him. If they dont indict him, and just leave him alone, it will seem like the raid was unjustified. And he could face many, many, many years in prison. And we know that no matter how close a person is to another person, when you put them in the risk of imprisonment for many years, they will not only sing but sometimes compose. That is, they know the better the story, the better the deal. So even if youre innocent, you have to be worried about your friends flipping and elaborating on a story or making up stories. So i think this is an effort to send a message to cohen saying, be strong. I support you. And dont believe what youre reading in the newspapers. By the way, Maggie Haberman is a great journalist. I dont think the president is right in attacking her. That goes without saying. So professor, i read it the same way and ive just seen it for the first time as well. But i wonder, why would the president feel it necessary to wage a Public Campaign to convince Michael Cohen . Oh, thats very simple. He had a conversation with michael just a couple days ago. Very simple. He cant wage a private campaign because that could be obstruction of justice. Whatever he says has to be in public. He cant call him or have his lawyers try to prevent him from testifying. The real hard issue is whether he could offer him a pardon or make it clear that he would get a pardon. There are some people who believe that the Scooter Libby pardon was such a message. I think Scooter Libby deserved to be pardoned and that was a pardon on the merits. But i think there are those who would look hard at the messages that the president is sending to cohen to be sure that he doesnt cross the line into obstruction of justice. And i think do you think if he said if he said these words to Michael Cohen in a private conversation, could that be interpreted as obstruction of justice . No, but if he said it in a private conversation, cohen could turn around and elaborate on what he said and make it seem like obstruction of justice. If hes going to say anything, and i dont think he should say anything, hes much better off doing it in writing and doing it in public so theres no ambiguity about what he said or about the tone because otherwise a prosecutor could take cohen and say, dont you think he actually offered you a bribe to not testify . And that would be an obstruction of justice. He has to be very, very careful about what he says and how he says it. I also think the decision to hire Rudy Giuliani, who is a great lawyer. Ive been opposed to him in many cases. Won some, lost some. Nobody can doubt his terrific background as a lawyer. I think that also sends a message. Maybe unintended message saying we have the Southern District covered. We have a very strong lawyer. Dont worry. Were standing behind you. Dont worry. Were defending ourselves. Were not rolling over. So there are a lot of subtle messages being sent. The prosecution sends messages as well when they i want to ask you one more question. Put that text pardon me, about Michael Cohen from the president back on the screen. Maybe this is of significance. Maybe its not. Theres a line in here, professor, where President Trump says michael is a business man for his own account lawyer who i have always liked and respected. Why that line . Michael is a businessman for his own account lawyer. Is that of some legal significance relative to privilege or am i reading too much into it . I think what hes saying is if Michael Cohen is in trouble for the medallions or whatever, thats his own problem. I had nothing to do with it. The lawyer part of it is to protect any lawyer client communications. That issue is now in front of judge kimball wood who is also my former student, a terrific judge. Shes going to have to make a decision as to who gets to make the vetting concerning whether or not their lawyer client prif legend. I dont think the vetting should