[Dave Briggs, Cnn:] NBA free agency tips off with a shocker heard round the basketball world. Kevin Durant announcing plans to sign with the Brooklyn Nets. A deal for four years, $164 million. Durant played the last three seasons with the Golden State Warriors winning two titles. He is expected to miss most or all of next season after rupturing his Achilles in the NBA finals. Durant will join free agents Kyrie Irving, DeAndre Jordan who are also headed to Brooklyn. K.D. and Kyrie reportedly took less money to sign so the Nets could sign DeAndre Jordan. Meantime, the Knicks sought to assure their very disappointed fans in a statement saying they continue to be upbeat and confident in their plans to rebuild. "Early Start" continues right now.
[Donald Trump, President Of The United States:] Stepping across that line was a great honor. A lot of progress has been made.
[Michelle Kosinski, Senior Diplomatic Correspondent:] A lot of progress, as the president making history by crossing into North Korea and saying he is restarting nuclear talks, but a deal to curb Pyongyang's nuclear program still faces long odds.
[Briggs:] Breaking news right now. Protesters in Hong Kong smash the front glass of the legislative building. Thousands in the streets to mark 22 years since Hong Kong's handover from Britain to China. Welcome back to "Early start." I'm Dave Briggs on a breaking news Monday around the world.
[Kosinski:] A lot going on this Monday to start us off. And I'm Michelle Kosinski in for Christine Romans. It's 32 minutes past the hour here in New York. And while you were enjoying a summer weekend, there was history being made at the DMZ. The president meeting North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un and becoming the first sitting U.S. president to cross into North Korean territory. The two leaders met for nearly an hour agreeing to restart those nuclear talks. Again, it was part of a weekend full of activity that could reshape U.S. relationships in Asia.
[Trump:] This is my honor. I didn't really expect it. We were in Japan for the G20. We came over and I said, hey, I'm over here. I want to call Chairman Kim and we got to meet and stepping across that line was a great honor. A lot of progress has been made. A lot of friendships have been made and this has been a particular great friendship so I just want to thank you.
[Briggs:] A great friendship with the murderous dictator. No doubt, President Trump loves this historic optics. Overnight North Korean state media describing the TrumpKim DMZ summit as an amazing event. But will it amount to anything beyond a photo-op. Let's bring in Paula Hancocks live near the DMZ. Paula, it would appear if "The New York Times" reporting is accurate, United States has prepared to significantly lower the bar. Good morning.
[Paula Hancocks, Cnn Correspondent:] Hello, Dave. Well, what we're hearing from "The New York Times" is that Trump administration officials are potentially now looking for a nuclear freeze as opposed to what they have asked for before, which is complete denuclearization of North Korea and then they would consider easing some of the sanctions on them. That is would be more of a step-by-step process. It would potentially tacitly accepts North Korea as nuclear power. Now, this is what we have seen from previous U.S. administrations. The fact that they have gone for freezes of nuclear missile tests in the past, there has been varying degrees of success, but all of those deals have eventually fallen down. Now we also understand from "The New York Times" article that the U.S. administration might be considering the deal that was discussed in Hanoi back in February. This was that North Korea would give up its main nuclear producing facility. This is the Yongbyon Nuclear Research Center and that would in turn lead to some sanctions relief. Now, this was rejected by Washington back in Hanoi saying that they wanted some of these undisclosed sights that North Korea hasn't admitted to be part of the deal as well. But very interestingly we did see that when President Trump was standing next to the South Korean President Moon Jae-in at the Blue House, the presidential office, they gave a press conference, President Moon suggested this Yongbyon deal, once again and the U.S. president did not object to that. But let's hear what he was saying as well at the DMZ.
[Trump:] We want to get it right. We don't want to we're not looking for speed, we're looking to get it right. And in the meantime, there's been no nuclear tests, there's been no ballistic missiles. There's been a lot of goodwill and there continues to be. Maybe if anything, better. And it probably after today, better than it was even before.
[Hancocks:] Now it is clear there is no need for speed when it comes to Kim Jong-un. He is not limited to a certain term as leader of North Korea. His term is, if he has anything to do with it, for life, of course for President Trump it is a very different matter, Dave.
[Briggs: Ok, 5:] 35 there p.m. near the DMZ. Paula, thank you.
[Kosinski:] Newly minted White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham getting some unexpected come back experience in the chaos that surrounded the impromptu TrumpKim meeting. Grisham got into a scuffle with North Korean officials outside a meeting room where the two leaders were talking privately. A source at the scene described it as an all-out brawl and said Grisham was a bit bruised. Several U.S. journalists did give her credit for assuring their press freedoms.
[Briggs:] Temporary truce in the U.S.China trade war. During the G20, President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed to table new tariffs and continue negotiations. The president telling Fox News he is optimistic about a deal with China.
[Tucker Carlson, Fox:] You just recently, hours ago, met with the Chinese President Xi Jinping.
[Trump:] I did.
[Carlson:] Are you closer, do you think, after that meeting to a trade deal?
[Trump:] I think so. We had a very good meeting, he wants to make a deal. I want to make a deal, very big deal. Probably, I guess you'd say the largest deal ever made of any kind, not only trade. We got along very well. We understand each other.
[Briggs:] White House chief economic advisor Larry Kudlow said there's no guarantee that a deal will happen.
[Larry Kudlow, White House Economic Adviser:] As the president said, continuing the talks which had been interrupted for a while, is a very big deal. No promises. There's no deal made. There's no timetable, I want to emphasize that.
[Briggs:] Investors like the news of a temporary truce. Wall Street futures are positive ahead of the opening bell. Something to remember here, existing tariffs on Chinese goods are still in place and will continue to hit businesses in the United States. Futures are also higher after Trump said he would lift some restrictions on Chinese tech giant Huawei ending a ban on American companies from using Huawei the telecom gear. Trump said Huawei will be save for the end of trade talks between Washington and Beijing.
[Kosinski:] A tense standoff overnight in Hong Kong with pro-democracy demonstrators taking a violent turn. Some of them shattering the glass on the legislative building. We are live there next.