Trump: U.S. To Stop "War Games" With South Korea; Ruling Expected Today On AT&T-Time Warner Merger
BERMAN: So, President Trump surprised the world by announcing the United States will stop military exercises -- these joint military exercises with South Korea. The president called these exercises "war games." South Korea responds to the news just moments ago so let's go straight to Seoul. CNN international diplomatic editor Nic Robertson is live there with more. Nic, what have you heard?</s>NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Well, John, of course, these joint military exercises are what gives the government the knowledge that it can respond to aggression from North Korea. It's what gives the people of South Korea the sense of security that they've got a ready military force that's battle ready -- that's ready to fight tonight. That's what -- that's the motto that they stand by. So what we've heard from the Blue House, the president's office, this evening gives us a little insight into what the president here is thinking about this issue of suspending or stopping entirely those military exercises. I'll read it to you. It says this. "At this moment, we need to figure out President Trump's accurate meaning and intention [of that statement]." It goes on, "However, we believe we need to seek various measures how to efficiently move forward to the dialogues during serious talks are being conducted to denuclearize the Korean peninsula and to establish relations between North Korea and the United States." I think what we're hearing from the Blue House here is that they want to understand what precisely does the president mean. But more to the point, that they're willing to go potentially that extra mile if that's what it takes to move this overall peace process forward -- John.</s>CAMEROTA: Oh, I'll take it. Thanks so much, Nic. Thanks for the reporting from there. So in just a few hours, back here at home, a federal judge will announce his ruling in the AT&T-Time Warner merger and this decision could have a domino effect on other proposed blockbuster media deals. CNN, of course, is owned by Turner and that is a division of Time Warner. CNN's Hadas Gold has been -- Hadas Gold has been in Washington covering this case from gavel to gavel and she has a preview. What are we expected, Hadas?</s>HADAS GOLD, REPORTER, "CNN MONEY": Alisyn, this is a day that the business community has been eagerly awaiting for a month. As you said, at 4:00 p.m., a federal judge here in Washington will rule whether or not AT&T should be allowed to buy Time Warner, our parent company. As you said, this ruling will have implications not just on these two companies but on all these other companies considering major mergers as well. Think Disney, Comcast, 21st Century Fox. All of these mergers will be directly affected by this deal. As soon as this week -- as soon as pretty much the judge rules, we'll expect action on some of these other deals. Now, this is going to be like a stoplight in the industry. If the judge rules yes, the two companies can merge, it will be a like a green light for more consolidation in the media industry. If he rules no, then it's like a red or yellow light and they're going to probably hold off on some of these mergers. Remember, the Justice Department sued to stop this merger last year because the government believes that if AT&T owned Time Warner they would have too much power in the industry. They think that would harm competition and possibly raise prices for consumers. AT&T and Time Warner say they need this merger to compete with the likes of Amazon, and Netflix, and Apple -- all of these new players in the television content game. And, AT&T claims that prices wouldn't actually go up. This would -- this would help all of these -- all of the -- all of these companies. Now ultimately, this is not the end because even though the judge will say yes or no there is going to be an appeals process. So today is just the beginning of an even longer process, Alisyn.</s>CAMEROTA: Oh, my gosh, Hadas. This is -- this is a lifelong employment for you, so that's the good news. Thank you very much for all --</s>GOLD: Thank you.</s>CAMEROTA: -- of your reporting. OK. So you have to hear this next story. These two men say that they taped up the president's ripped-up papers for the sake of history. So now, these two former aides describe their very strange assignment and why they got fired. That's next.