Thanks much for watching, everyone. Im alex witt. A very historic day in news. A big week ahead here. Have a great week, everybody. Im david gura at msnbc headquarters in europe. The art of diplomacy President Trump in singapore this hour ahead of tuesdays his stork summit with north koreas kim jongun. When the two leaders will come face to face for the first time. A onetime shot . Thats what the commander in chief is calling the meeting, claiming hell know right away if north korea means business. And the president versus the Prime Minister en route to singapore for that meeting with a longtime adversary. President trump launched a twitter attack on our closest allies. We begin this afternoon with history in the making. President donald trump and north Korean Leader kim jongun both in singapore setting the stage for tuesdays nuclear summit. With a buildup has been similar to what youd see before a championship prize fight with all the hype, the spectacle, the bluster, and the namecalling. Now there are reports the two leaders are going to meet oneonone first. Joining us now from singapore, bill neely, chief global correspondent for nbc news. Eugene scott is political reporter for the washington post. Lock lynn markey loughlin ma. Singapore is not a big place, it is you and 3,000 other reporters descending on it to see what happens here on tuesday. Set the scene for us. What happens between now and then. Yeah, david, you are absolutely right. At the moment the two leaders are in their respective hotels, i assume, since 2 00 in the morning that they are asleep. But with President Trump you never can be sure. And tomorrow there is one visit by President Trump to singapores Prime Minister li. Tim jong kim jongun saw him this afternoon after he arrived. Kim jongun looking very relashgserela relaxed. He thanked li for hosting the summit, saying the whole world will be watching. That is absolutely true. Theyll be watching in russia, in china, especially, of course, in japan and south korea where north Koreas Nuclear weapons have been a threat for decades. This is an extraordinary historic summit. The two men are within blocks of each other really, a threeminute car ride, if that. On tuesday here, a heavily secured part of singapore, they will meet for that historic summit. Youre going to hear that word, historic, quite a lot. Just before he left quebec, President Trump was asked about how he felt about the upcoming summit. Heres what he said. Were about to embark on what may be the most important meeting youve ever had in your life. Whats in your gut . Steel nerves or butterflies . I really feel confident. I feel that kim jongun wants to do something great for his people and he has that opportunity. Reporter and he also said that he wont have that opportunity again. It wasnt a menacing comment, but it is a warning that this is, as President Trump said, a onetime shot, a unique opportunity for these two men who come at this whole problem of denuclearization from very different angles. They still dont have a common definition of what denuclearization means. As far as the summit is concerned, we dont have an agenda. We dont know what theyll be talking about. We dont know how long theyll talk for. There is a report that they may talk oneonone in the room with just a translator between them. But, david, there really is so much we dont know about this meeting which will take place here tuesday just after 9 00 in the morning. You travel the world more than many of my colleagues. You mention that summit that took place in quebec. The comments that we heard from President Trump while he was there, the tweet that he fired off afterward about how he didnt want to sign on to the joint communique. How does that kind of rhetoric reverberate around the world . You were traveling often and everywhere. What effect is that having on our relationship with other countries, as you see it . Reporter well, you know what happened in quebec might horrify americas european allies and canada, but it will not have gone unnoticed by kim jongun and the North Koreans. What lessons will they draw from that . Well, we dont know. But it is possible that they feel it undermines anything President Trump says because if he agrees to acommunique, and then gets on a plane and disavows it, then what is his signature on any agreement worth . And thats always been their paranoia about libya and what happened to colonel gadhafi. The world said to colonel gadhafi, hey, give up your Nuclear Weapons, well look after you, it will be all right, youll come in from the International Cold and be a global figure. He did that and of course within a number of years he was murdered after air strikes by britain, france and the United States. So that has always been a concern from the North Koreans. And theyll also be looking at that meeting. As you said, ive covered g7 summits many, many times before. They are usually predictable affairs, usually friendly. Apart from one in 2003 directly after or during the iraq war. But usually entirely predictable. Not this one. So the North Koreans may be saying, hey, if thats what happens at a summit with friends and allies, what can we expe . Xpect the unexpected. This will be unpredictable. Probably unscripted. Remember at the g7 summit, President Trump before it even began talked about russia rejoining the g7 to make it the g8. Again that was an unscripted remark, apparently not agreed with any National Security officials or Foreign Policy officials. So i think this will be a seat of the pants affair. President trump i mean the eyes of the world will be on this, but well all be looking very closely at the first minute because thats when President Trump says he will basically look into kim jonguns eyes and decide if hes serious or not about denuclearization. He will know, says President Trump, by his feel, by his touch. So, you know, both men are extremely aware of tv cameras, of their image, of how this goes down with their own population. So even the first minute of this meeting will be absolutely crucial and absolutely fascinating for the likes of us, david. Bill neely, my colleague in singapore. Eugene scott with loughlin markey. Eugene, start with you for a sense of what you are looking for in light of what i was just discussing with bill neely, that is you are looking at this through the prism of what happened in quebec over the last couple of days. How does that change what you are going to be looking for, eugene . I think what im looking for is looking specifically to see if President Trump is going to prove that he actually has some type of nj and insight into what could make north korea move towards peace and denuclearization which is what he ultimately wants, in a way that he has not communicated before. We have some background reporting saying that one of the main motivations for donald trump with this whole summit with north korea is that when president obama and trump met shortly before the inauguration, obama made it very clear to President Trump that north korea would be one of his biggest challenges. So trump is trying to communicate that he is solve a problem that obama was not able to. But he hasnt communicated how exactly, so we are looking to see if there is any way that he can make clear that he has some answers to questions and problems that obama did not. Loughlin markey, let me turn to you. What do we know about the kind of prep going into this summit . As we look at things beginning to unfold there in singapore, we saw a lot more enthusiasm for the summit in singapore than quebec. Whats the white house saying about how President Trump is preparing for this unprecedented meeting . I think he sees the most viable course as building sort of a personal rapport with kim jongun. As bill just told us, theres talk of it being a oneonone meeting between the two leaders. I think President Trump really wants to build a relationship and he thinks thats the right way forward. I do think though that that creates a lot of interest region dynamics in terms of opti especially coming out of this g7 where youve had the president and his advisors really lashing out at a major u. S. Ally. So if thats immediately followed up by photoops of smiling and handshaking between the leaders of the u. S. And north korea, thats definitely it puts a dent in our standing as sort of a moral leader on the world stage if were treating the leader of north korea much better than were treating the leader of canada. So i think thats going to be a challenge. Carl, if i turn to you for historic perspective. Weve heard, this is an unprecedented thing, there hachbt be hasnt been a meeting like this before. Situate this for us in history. How big a deal is it . Well, it is a big deal because weve tried to have a relationship with, in for so long and they are a nuclear power, and as such, a danger to the worlds peace. I covered a number of summits in the 70s and 80s involving the United States and the soviet union. One of the dangers in these kinds of summits was exemplified by what happened in iceland when president reagan and president gorbachev met. They met by themselves, pretty much, and they got off on a discussion of whether they should get rid of all Nuclear Weapons in the world. And while that sounds like a great idea, most arms control experts and most people who studied these things didnt think it was a very great idea. And it ultimately didnt happen because gorbachev wouldnt allow reagan to continue testing on the star wars Defense System he was so enamored of. But it really shows that when two leaders get in a room, anything can happen. The question, once theyre in the room, is how eager will each of them especially President Trump be to get some kind of a deal. Eugene, relationships like this, conversations like this, oneonone conversations, are built on trust. You look back at what happened in quebec. I dont think were picking up the pieces yet. I think were trying to assess what the pieces are that are on the ground. You have larry kudlow, the president s economic advisor, talking about what transpired there. He was standing next to President Trump at the press conference yesterday morning. Take a listen to what larry kudlow had to say about what happened. We went through it. We agreed. We compromised on the communique. We joined the communique. In good faith. He holds a press conference and he says the u. S. Is insulting. He said that canada has to stand up for itself. He says that we are the problem with tariffs. He really kind of stabbed us in the back. He really actually, you know what . He did a great disservice to the whole g7. Eugene, we can say wither the alliance. We can say wither the trust. Larry kudlow sowing the seeds of trust or mistrust. Thats at least how i see it. Yes. I think even if what larry kudlow said about Justin Trudeau was accurate, you have to look at the track record between the United States and canada. This is not something that has been common throughout this relationship. But what is true is that north korea has not proven that they are a country and leader that we can actually trust. But trump is speaking about north korea as if they good actor and have a history of showing themselves to be. So it is not clear why he has such confidence in north korea to go ahead and do what it is that he ultimately wants and has so little confidence in canada despite americas lg history with the country. Loughlin, lastly to you. I talked about picking up the pieces. The senior senator from arizona, john mccain, trying to do that in a tweet to our allies. In 209 characters a message to them. Ill read here to our allies. Bo bipartisan majorities of americans remain pro free trade, pro globalization and supportive of alliances based ond 70 years of shared values. Americans stand with you even if our president doesnt. Thats an extraordinary statement. How much are we seeing that echoed by otherembe of the congress . Yeah. I mean there is increasing distrust among republicans of the trump trade agenda when you see the president coming out and tweeting, for instance, that the steel and aluminum tariffs are in retaliation for tariffs on dairy imposed by canada when the initial justification for the u. S. Tariffs was on National Security grounds. Meanwhile, you have the president simultaneously this week lifting sanctions on the Chinese Technology company zte which a lot of republican members of congress have said is a grave mistake from a National Security perspective. I think a lot of people are recognizing that disconnect, not just senator mccain but senator rubios been outspoken. Even folks who are close to the president like senator tom cotton have voiced a little bit of skepticism. I would imagine thats only going to increase as the simple matter of International Alliances with some of our biggest allies become sort of front and center in this debate. Appreciate the time. Looking ahead to tuesdays summit, the president spoke about his approach to reading the north Korean Leader. We dont have it . Wendy sherman, an msnbc Global Affairs contributor, former under secretary of state for Political Affairs at the u. S. Department of of state. You were of course the point person on north korea during the clinton administration. Well get to that in just a moment but i cant have you here without asking about what you saw unfold yesterday. Yes, on the shores of the st. Lawrence river but once that plane took off and began to make its way to singapore, what do you make of the move the president made yesterday of visavis his relationship our relationship to this group of allies . Well, clearly i think it is quite concerning. The president has made a career in the last few months of showing that our strongest allies, the people who have stood with us to fight battle after battle in afghanistan, in iraq, in all over the world, to really thwart isis, that hes going to abandon them. He did on climate change. Did he on the iran deal. Hes done that on nato. Hes done it in any kind of multilateral trade deal. In so many ways on the iran deal. He has done it again. But i think, david, what was really going on at the g7 is his prism wasnt the g7. It was this summit that was about to come up and i even think that his gambit saying russia should join the g7 to become the g8 again was in part looking tough, looking strong, and saying to russia i need you on my side for the summit with kim jongun. It had more to do with the summit, all of these shenanigans, than it had to do with the g7. We throw around this word, communique. I just want you to explain what this is exactly. My understanding is it is a joint statement, common at meetings like these, and they are agreed to, maybe not signed but agreed to weeks, if not months, beforehand. Talk about the extraordinary of that. There waspeculation here on the first day of this summit the president might not sign it. But customarily, at least again, as i understand it, these things are agreed to in advance. Indeed. There are many, many meetings that take place in front of the g7, including a g7 ministerial. That is the foreign ministers. There is a g7 finance ministers meeting. All through all of thee meetings and was well as the subsherpas, the people who are not the major negotiator but the subnegotiators representing different cabinet secretaries, are working on what the communique will say. It is quite a lengthy document. Has all kinds of financial steps in it that are going to be taken. Concerns about climate. Concerns about gender equality, which was on the canadian agenda. Of course, whatever is the common and most critical Foreign Policy issue of the day. So im sure there was even language in there about north korea and the upcoming summit. So, yes, these things are put together far in advance. Sometimes there is some negotiating right at the end. There certainly has been on Foreign Policy. I represented our government in several g7 meetings going with the president of the United States. We did have some late night negotiating sessions. But larry kudlow was there doing the financial aspects for the president. And he has said on this mornings networks that he supported this final communique and only agreed with the president when the president got his back up after justin true bow basically just spoke the facts as he saw them. Lets turn to north korea now, something with which you have a lot of experience. I saw Jennifer Jacobs of Bloomberg News reporting the president intends to meet with kim jongun oneonone in a room with just their interpreters. How extraordinary is that . How worried does that make you that they would be meeting without the panoply of policy advisors . My guess is that when that interpreter comes out, the president s advisors will want to have all of the notes of the interpreter, know what went on in that meeting. I can understand the president wanting to get a feel for kim jongun and believing that he can, oneonone, size him up and see whats going on. The interpretation actually is helpful because it gives each of the leaders a few moments to consider how they want to respond next, which is useful when youre just getting to know someone. But im sure his advisors, if it goes on fo