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Brian Williams: It's 'Our Job' to 'Scare People to Death' Over North Korea

August 10, 2017

MSNBC's "The 11th Hour" host Brian Williams told a panel on Tuesday night that it was the media's job to "scare people to death" over North Korea in response to President Donald Trump's rhetoric towards the rogue country earlier in the day.

Williams mentioned how Secretary of State Rex Tillerson's tone on North Korea was completely different from Trump's.

"There's pressure," MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell said. "This could have been a signal to Beijing as well; 'Listen up, take this seriously.' It could have been President Trump sending signals in a number of directions."

Mitchell said that Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D., Calif.) and John McCain (R., Ariz.) did not respond positively to Trump's language while he delivered a threat to North Korea. She went on to explain the high risks and dangers of the United States acting preemptively against North Korea, prompting Williams to make his remark to MSNBC contributor Malcolm Nance.

"Malcolm, our job tonight actually is to scare people to death on this subject so the talk isn't as free as it is about a preemptive or a surgical military strike. You know that part of the world. The population centers, Andrea and the General [Barry McCaffrey] have talked about, South Korea, the Japanese, and so on and so on," Williams said.

Trump delivered a strong warning Tuesday against North Korea if the rogue country makes any future threats against the United States.

"North Korea best not make any more threats to the United States," Trump said. "They will be met with fire and fury like the world has never seen."

"[Kim Jong-un] has been very threatening beyond a normal statement, and as I said, they will be met with fire, fury, and, frankly, power, the likes of which this world has never seen before," Trump concluded. "Thank you."