we haven't used a hot rhetoric that the north koreans have. the heated rhetoric, which hopefully is bluster. and we, on the other hand, can't assume that it's only bluster. we have to be ready for whatever comes. and we are. >> senator levin, thanks very much for joining us. >> thank you. >> carl levin, chairman of the armed services committee. >>> still ahead, i'll speak with the white house press secretary, jay carney, talking about the obama administration's secret communications with north korea. what's going on? we'll share with you what we know. >>> plus, kim jong-un's rise to power. his pampered youth and mysterious family. >>> and our own christiane amanpour and fareed zakaria, they're standing by with their takes on the latest threats from north korea and the u.s. response, our special "situation room" report continues right after this. [ male announcer ] how do you measure happiness? by the armful? by the barrelful? the carful? how about...by the bowlful? campbell's soups give you nutrition, energy, and can help you keep a healthy we

military deployed, prompted by the north korean behavior. this may be something that we have told the chinese to keep them fully informed that it is not directed against them. the chinese can connect the dots here. if you have arrived at the conclusion that north korea, by whatever means, wants an operational nuclear deterrent, that is, to say the least, deeply vexing to the chinese and leads them to think about this relationship, i think, in potentially different fashions. it does not mean the chinese will cut the court -- cut the north koreans loose, but i believe the chinese are actively deliberating, how do they impose costs on the north for its behavior? because it is really harming their interests in a palpable way. >> i would like to turn to one of the reasons why china is probably concerned about the trend. that is the implication for regional peace and security. i would like steve to talk first about something called extended deterrence. and then evans to talk about a related topic, proposals we are hearing in south korea that maybe

i mean, one of the things that is always viking about north korean behavior -- striking about north korean behavior is their capacity to find something in the seams, something that is very undermining in the south and the like, but doing it in a way that they think they are free of major consequence in return. so the question is whether that same script would follow this time. for example, it would seem to me often in the case of their brinksmanship the effort is to perturb the south psychologically, economically and the like. indeed, it may be because you have a tough, determined new leader in south korea that the belief was let's ratchet this up even higher in the expectation that somehow south korea will waver in its commitment and relationship with the united states. i think that's a fundamental miscalculation by north korea, and that will be proven if things go from bad to worse. but, you know, whether it is cyber attacks, whether it is ore ore -- other efforts to rattle nerves in south korea whether momentarily or over the longer run, it's that precise element of unpredictability tha

i'll talk about the north korean nonnuclear threat. all the threats they present militarily that are nonnuclear. i'll talk about the north korean proliferation threat. the north korean nuclear threat which is probably more written about than anything else. and i'll talk bat threat that people don't analyze as bag threat and that the north korean's region session unstable that that causes and how that's a threat to the reason. the succession from kim ongoing toil his son, jim -- kim jong-un. so arrest get into the nonmilitary threat from north korea. what are the biggest challenges that the north korean people's army faces? it's obvious that inadequate resources, particularly food and fuel, limits the training of traditional conventional forces. when i say traditional conventional forces i'm speaking about armor, maybe niced forces. self-propelled are artillery. they have the equivalent of four mechanized corps, three thousand vehicles. takes a lot of fuel to run those guys out and do field training and the north koreans do not have sim

why are the north koreans being more provocative now? >> authorities in pyongyang are responding to the joint military drill that u.s. and south korean forces began last month. these annual exercises always prompt an anger reaction from the north koreans. but this time, they seem outraged, because the americans used the b-2 stealth bombers, which is unusual. and the u.s. also tested a b-52 strategic bomber. both planes can carry nuclear missiles. north korean officers, officials, are taking this opportunity to build up supporter for young leader jong-un. they resorted to their old tactic of lashing out against an enemy to build support among citizens. in this case, the enemy is the u.s. and of course south korea. the north koreans are also responding to political change across the border. south koreans elected park geun-hye as president. instead of a candidate who takes a softer approach toward the north. plus, members of the u.n. security council toughened sanctions against the north to try to smother its nuclear and missile programs. c

to help north korean detectors. >> i lived in rural areas hiding out with north koreans sharing room with livestock for some periods. >> escaping north korea is the book chronicling it. >> it has a history for us to think about the 1800's to think about slavery and the fight to get north of the mason dixon line. how would you describe what you consider the under ground railroad from north korea into china? >> it's 6,000 miles from north korea to china through southeast asia. >> there's a network of safe houses and secret routes. >> there are contacts along the route to help with the aid of north koreans. there are some within your network and some within another network willing to help. you know people in the cities that are willing to risk housing of north koreans. >> mike founded crossing borders a christian organization devoted to helping north korean refugees. this man who we will call un is currently the organization's director. >> i help north korean people in china. it's illegal for any one to even feed a north korean refugee. >> your identity is given up sfwh>> i would go to

assad to help us with the north koreans? >> i want to bring this up, because all of us remember how the u.s. indeed -- i think the whole world miscalculated saddam hussein in 1990, on the eve of his invasion of kuwait when he moved 100,000 u.s. -- or iraqi troops from the iranian border to the kuwaiti border, and all the top u.s. officials were telling me, i assume they were telling you, he's bluffing, he's not going to go in and invade a fellow arab country, maybe he wants the kuwaitis to raise the price of oil a little bit. he would never do that. maybe a little border skirmish. it's really a bluff. and it wasn't a bluff, and he went in and went like a knife through butter into kuwait. i think of that now when i see people saying kim jong-un is bluffing. >> he may have called everybody's bluff, but the united states assembled, with a coalition, 500,000 troops. >> over six months. >> yes. and did the job of getting rid of him. they would thought appease what happened. and he went back. the real bluff was saddam hussein thin

they proposed resuming talks, but north korean leaders refused. >> the north korean government statement referred to the warning south korea made that it would take serious measures if the north failed to respond to its request for talks. >>> south korea's airlines are joining hands to try to get the north korean's to use restraint. prime minister shinzo abe sat down with the chairman of the u.s. chief of staff. they discussed the north korean provocations and how to respond. >> translator: the security environment is becoming more challenging, strengthen being the alliance between japan and the united states is important for the peace and security of the region. >> they agreed the japanese and americans need to work more closely with the south koreans. they will fulfill their responsibilities under their security pact with japan. dempsey has also been talking with leaders in china. he said the chinese consider islands at the heart of a territorial dispute with japan a tough priority. japan controls the senkaku islands. china and japan claim them. >> they did use the term core interest.

and his north korean regime? enough is enough. >> with its rhetoric, with its actions, have been skating very close to a dangerous line. >> in the hours before an expected north korean missile test. hagel made clear the u.s. military is ready to respond. >> our country is fully prepared to deal with any contingency, any action that north korea may take or any provocation. >> the joint chiefs chairman offering a grim assessment of how close north korea is to putting a nuclear warhead on a missile. a direct threat to the u.s. >> in the absence of concrete evidence to the contrary, we have to assume the worst case. >> u.s. intelligence indicates the regime in the last few days, may have moved several short range missile launchers around the country. that's on top of the two interest mediate range mobile missiles it parked along the east coast. the u.s. worries multiple missile launches are the first of more provocative actions by the north. no one has forgotten the 2010 shelling of a south korean island by north kor

koreans areth paying the north korean government for the north korean labor. the thought has been this is teaching them capitalism, that you can begin to make inroads against the regime that way. i am surprised and disturbed the north koreans seem to be shutting that down. host: what is the population of north koreans in south korea? guest: it is hard to say because some of them go back generations. i think there are at this stage koreany 10,000 north refugees from the current regime in south korea. have arrived there in various ways and are receiving assistance from the government. host: are they able to get across the border, much like the mexican/u.s. border? guest: no one crosses the border. is highly militarized and fortified on the north korean side. refugees escaped through china. it is much easier to get into china, and sometimes come out through southeast asia. that border, is that pretty well open? guest: it is patrolled, but very easy to cross. host: thomas c. hubbard served as u.s. ambassador to south korea from 2004 -- 2001-2004. he works for mcca

north korean crisis, while the u.s. allies run drills, new word that a missile launch could happen literally at any moment without warning. plus, kim jong-un's family secrets. how he rose to power over his brothers and his insecurities right now and a clear and direct threat to america. very strong words. the troops are preparing for the worst. >>> a u.s. official tells us that a launch of north korea's missiles may be imminent and it may happen without the usual warning to planes and ships in the region. that's a very, very dangerous scenario. defensive missiles are now poised in japan, in south korea and on guam where there are 6,000 troops. the united states says it will track any missiles launched by kim jong-un and quickly decide whether to shoot them down. our correspondents are covering this from around the world. we're being joined this hour and being followed by every new development. first, let's go to our pentagon correspondent chris lawrence for the very latest. >> reporter: wolf, a u.s. official says north

the north koreans have stated they will attack u.s. targets and those of its allies. >> they have nuclear capacity now. they have missile delivery capacity now. and some of the actions they've taken over the last few weeks present a real and clear danger and threat to the interests, certainly, of our allies. >> commanders at the pentagon say they'll deploy a missile defense system to the u.s. specific territory of guam. they say they need to increase their defenses against a possible attack. state media in north korea broadcast another threat soon after hagel spoke. a spokesperson for north korea's army said they would inform the u.s. government that they have a possible nuclear strike. the statement said america's hostile policy would be smashed. >>> experts on security studies and international relations say the u.s. don't think the north korean leaders will go to war. here's from the national defense academy of japan. >> the united states has come to see the threat of north korea more seriously than ever now. there are two types of

north korean crisis. north korea may -- may be ready to launch. the u.s. is tracking missile movements that could push the region closer to war. he's armed and dangerous, we are taking a closer look at what may be driving kim jong-un to make brazen threats and defy the world. >>> and dialing it down, the obama administration addresses concerns that its response to this crisis has only made matters worse. so one of the world's most dangerous regimes right now and now north korea it is on the brink of war. u.s. officials fear it may be planning a missile launch soon. the reports have been amping up every single day from a nation under the thumb of a young and unpredictable leader. kim jong-un is armed with a nuclear program, and this hour our correspond ecents are looki at the threat to the united states and the world. and president obama's response. and christiane amanpour and fareed sa carious will give us a global view. let's begin with barbara starr who is watching this unfold. it is pretty intense. what's the latest, barbara? >> well, the talk has been

the north can't -- north koreans seem to have abrogated everything they're going to. there have been years on the plutonium plant that we spent so much time trying to get disabled. all eyes will be there later this week when secretary kerry is there. and to some extent, china has made a shift, may be less than some people accept or believe, but i think china is ready to work more closely with us. and i think the u.s., if it handles a while, we could bring more pressure to bear on the north koreans. -- if the u.s. handles it well, we could bring more pressure to bear on the north koreans. we will not get back to denuclearization unless the chinese are part of that process. >> thank you. in kenya today, the country's new president was sworn in. of one of kenya's founding fathers and also one of man, andry's richest the first president to be elected under the new constitution. he also holds the dubious distinction of facing charges in the international criminal colt -- criminal court. from nairobi, this report. >> it came from across the country and across the ethnic div

the north korean 1992. i'm sure that south korea will continue to abide by that declaration. >> are you ready to go to pyongyang and meet with kim jong-un? >> i have made it consistently clear that i am ready to visit the dprk when and if my visit is helpful, and in close coordination with the concerned parties, particularly the republic of korea and the united states. >> stand by for more of my interview with the united nations secretary-general ban ki-moon. the u.n. secretary-general delivers a direct and powerful message to kim jong-un. i asked him to deliver that message in korean, knowing that they watch cnn international in north korea. at least the elite, the elite government officials and the military do. you'll hear that message in korean. what he has to say to kim jong-un, that's coming up this hour on our special report, the korean crisis. >>> up next, though, we have secret film from inside north korea. very dangerous escape route for people who are starving. >>> and the former president bill cl

but north korean officials refused. they ignored international protests and in 1994 instrutted scientists to extract plutonium from spent fuel rods. the six-party talks began in 2003 with the goal of halting the north's nuclear development. the north koreans agreed in 2007 to dismantle nuclear facilities at nyongbyon. international atomic energy inspectors confirmed the same year that crews had stopped operating the reactor. by then, former iaea inspector david albright estimated the country already possessed as much as 50 kilograms of plutonium. however, the north koreans might have used up some of their supply. they carried out three nuclear experiments since 2006, the latest in february. analysts believe scientists used plutonium in the first two tests but they are not sure about the third. the people's assembly unanimously adopted legislation on monday to reinforce the nation's status as a nuclear power. that essentially means they show the intention to produce more plutonium to further develop their nuclear program

this is the challenge that is facing the north koreans. we largely believe they have developed a nuclear weapon and it is probably crude like this and it would weigh a lot. and this is the big challenge because the mess we're talking about right now on the east coast only as a payload of two and a half tons. we simply cannot carry one of these nuclear weapons. the challenge becomes somehow making it smaller. let's talk about the nature, the architecture of nuclear weapons and how they would do that. the core of the nuclear bomb like we talked about world war ii is not very big. the size of a shot at, at 10 or 15 pounds of plutonium. but to make it law, what you have to do is compress it, and that is what stars the reaction. you do that by surrounding it with high explosives which are inside a container. we're not giving away any secrets, because it's on the internet of the when you make something this big, this is where the weight comes, not from the nuclear material, but from everything else. if you want to make it smaller, you have to im

the north korean troops. we're taking a closer look. >>> and in japan right now, patriot missiles, they are poised. one city has jumped the gun, mistakenly claiming that north korea's missile has launched. ♪ >>> column upon column of highly disciplined soldiers. this is north korea's massive fighting force and they're watching what's going on. they're trained specifically to wage war against south korean and american military forces on the korean peninsula. cnn's tom foreman and cnn contributor retired u.s. army general spider marks take a closer look. >> wolf, the cornerstone of everything we've been talking about for the past couple of weeks is the north korean army. general, walk us through the force of this army. >> this is an army that has over about 1 million folks under arms, very large reserve component. mandatory service, from a couple of years up to ten years. >> a large force, particularly large if we think about the size of the area involved. look at this map of the united states. that's where n

so the concern is north koreans may not quite understand that. you know, when you sit alone in north korea for decades on end, you kind of lose a feel for how others react to your behavior. so that's the real concern that they'll have a miscalculation. they'll kind of push their way in something in the demilitarized zone say in the little village there, the so-called peace village and that they'll expect us to back off or something. i'm not sure the south koreans are going to do that. so it is a kind of a tense moment. i think the white house has handled it very well by being resolute on one hand, that is, with these deployments which i think are absolutely essential. i mean they're part of a plan of defending south korea. but at the same time accompanying it with very sort of low-key explanations. part of that is to deal with china. part of th iso show the chinese that we have know interest in escalating this thing, that this whole dance has been started by the north koreans not by us. >> charlie: speaking of the chinese, i mean you wrote a piec

to be approaching the north koreans. i think the diplomacy ought to be with our two allies, japan and especially south korea, but also with china, as you know, secretary kerry will be going to china and i think that's the key area to figure out what the way forward is diplomatically, we have an extremely competent ambassador. if there's a means by which to work with the chinese to help try to diffuse this and get this on the right track for the future, we need to get ambassador davies working with his counterpart as well. >> christiane, the new leader kim jong-un make it clear they want a phone call from the president obama, these are insecure people over there, what would be wrong for the u.s. to avert disaster to reaching out them and talking to them? >> can beclear about what i said on their program before, never i have intimated any question of imappeasement in the face of real threats and provocations right now. what i'm talking about is, the broader way of how do you deal with north korea. i was in north korea afte

you know, for 60 years we have been successful at deterring the north koreans. and in some ways that's the most important form of communication that we can have. and thus far despite this over-the-top rhetoric they remain deterred in terms of actions. and we have to believe that that in military security deterrence will remain in effect as it has for the last 60 years. now clearly we'd like to see the rhetoric toned down, as well. china's going to play a very important role in that. the united states is first and foremost going to continue to work very closely with its allies in seoul and in tokyo to make sure that we have a unified voice there. i don't think that this point that there is any clear, open channels to north korea for a new negotiating track or some type of a silver bullet, magical negotiating strategy that's going to change this. because, again, this really has much more to do with the leadership transition in north korea than anything in terms of our relationship with them directly. >> gordon flake from the maureen and mike mansfield foundation.

but we've heard these repeated threats from the north koreans. they may believe that doing nothing would damage morale among their troops. so they may launch a missile. carrying a mock hard warhead. but i can't imagine a direct assault on japanese territory unless a war breaks out. data from the past three nuclear tests show the explosions were all small-scale. but seven years have already passed since the first test. and it's korea that engineers are trying to develop a small nuclear warhead capable of being mounted on a missile. the middle rage and musudan missile can be considered complete. but they're still working on the warhead and technologies. we are all wondering how far they will go down that road. but they've certainly made progress. if things remain as they are, a nuclear armed north korea will become a reality in the near future. >>> south korea's defense minister says officials continue to monitor developments in the north. he says the north's leaders appeared ready to carry out their threats. >> translator: north korea is ready to

this north korean bluster is pretty serious. so i think the problem is the north koreans might feel they can get away with some incident, whereas you suggest, i think the south koreans would hit them back pretty hard. there does appear to be some shift in their rules of engagement as local commanders seem to be empowered to use right back at them. so i think it is a dangerous situation. as we look at the paths of this crisis, i think this kind of inadvertent conflict is the most serious. >> as you know, admiral fallon, the north koreans did bomb an island, they killed a bunch of south koreans and attacked a south korean warship that killed a lot of sailors. the south koreans at that point did not retaliate. but i suspect if they did those kinds of things again, the situation could explode. >> wolf, i think it's noteworthy that within the last week or ten days there was an agreement reached between the u.s. and the republic of korea. i don't know the details of it, but it sounds to me like it was a heightened effort to consult ve

but some mentioned tougher security checks by north korean authorities. >> translator: north korean workers did not respond to me even though i tried to start conversations. their attitude toward south korean workers has changed. >> 50,000 north koreans work for south korean companies in the complex. it is source of badly needed currency for the north. nhk world covers the korean opinions for us. >> reporter: north korean leaders are being more provocative because of u.s. drills. it always triggers some sort of reaction. the north korean regime is taking this opportunity to build support for its young leader kim jong un. it's resulted in old tactic, launching out against an old enemy, the united states. the north korean are trying to heighten the sense of crisis. kim reportedly told a former star american basketball player that he wants to hear from president obama. here's what dennis rodman said in march after his visit to north korea. >> he want obama to to one thing. call him. >> he wants a call from president obama? >> yeah. he said if you can, dennis i don't want to do war. i don't wan

the north korean 1992. i'm sure that south korea will continue to abide by that declaration. >> are you ready to go to pyongyang and meet with kim jong-un? >> i have made it consistently clear that i am ready to visit the dprk when and if my visit is helpful, and in close coordination with the concerned parties, particularly the republic of korea and the united states. >> stand by for more of my interview with the united nations secretary-general ban ki-moon. the u.n. secretary-general delivers a direct and powerful message to kim jong-un. i asked him to deliver that message in korean, knowing that they watch cnn international in north korea. at least the elite, the elite government officials and the military do. you'll hear that message in korean. what he has to say to kim jong-un, that's coming up this hour on our special report, the korean crisis. >>> up next, though, we have secret film from inside north korea. very dangerous escape route for people who are starving. >>> and the former president bill cl

sounds totally like the north korean announcer. you can't help but laugh says information security expert. but this is just the latest shot in an ongoing and very serious cyber war between the two koreas that goes far beyond the humiliation of a leader. which is a bigger threat, conventional war, nuclear war or this cyber war. the purpose of a cyber war is to eliminate the ability to fight. in a country that claims to be the most wired in the world, south korea has been under increasing attack. just last month a major cyber assault knocked south korean television networks offline and froze business at banks. that's why seoul is building the cyber army. soldiers learning to break code in north korean cyber terrorism. we can't show you their faces because many of them will work with the south korean military on the cyber front lines where they'll faceoff with cyber soldiers from the north. as amusing as this is, there is growing concern among security experts in seoul that because this was so successful and so funny that north korea

the north korean crisis happening now. defensive missiles are up and armed, waiting for north korea's next dangerous move that could happen any time. as kim jong-un threatens war, how could he afford to test his weapons and the patience of the world? we're following the money. >>> and americans on vacation in a crisis zone. they'll tell us about their pleasure tour of north korea. >>> u.s. officials fear this could be the week north korea goes ahead with a provocative missile launch or something even worse. kim jong-un's regime warns the region is becoming a hot bed of war. tensions are only rising now that north korea is suspending operations of a huge industrial complex near the border jointly owned with south korea. our correspondents are covering this unfolding crisis and the u.s. response with tens of thousands of americans potentially at risk. let's bring in our pentagon correspondent barbara starr right now. she's following the renewed concerns about the north's nuclear ambitions. what's the very latest, barbara? >>

and this north korean bluster is pretty serious. so i ti the problem is, the north koreans might feel they can get away with some incident, where as you suggest, i think the south koreans would hit them back pretty hard. and there does appear to be some shift in the rules of engagement, that is local commanders seem to be empowered to move right back at them rather than phone home to seoul. so i think it is kind of a dangerous situation. and as we look at the various paths of this crisis, i think this kind of inadvertent conflict could be the most serious. >> as you know, admiral fallon, two years or so ago, when i was in north korea, the north koreans did bomb an island, they killed a whole bunch of south koreans. they attacked a south korean warship, killed a lot of sailors. the south koreans at that point did not retaliate. but i would suspect if they did those things again, the situation would explode. >> i think it's noteworthy that within the last week or ten days, there was an agreement reached between the u.s. and the republ

last week the north koreans began refusing entry to workers from the south. now employees from the north aren't there, either. officials in pyongyang say the closure may be permanent. >> closing it would be regrettable given that more than 50,000 north korean people are employed there, and it would not help them achieve their state of desire to improve their economy and better the lives of their people. >>> south korean president park geun-hye have criticized them for pulling their workers out. >> translator: if north korea is going to do things like stop operations at the kaesong complex and disregard international rules and agreements, then no country or company in the world will invest in them. >> park urged the leadership of the north to reopen the facility for the sake of the korean people. representatives of small and medium size south korean companies operating in kaesong met to discuss what to do. they want the government to send a business delegation to north korea to discuss the matter. they said all measures should be taken to return to normal oper

china -- china-north korean relationship. the concern about missiles, the concern about the missile shield being something that reinforces the china-north korea relationship, looking at it from a larger, strategic vantage, or is it something not quite that much? >> one of the interesting things in china is the growth of different interest groups, vis a vis relations with north korea and also with the united states, so when we see things like the north korean missile threats and the threat to attack the united states with nuclear-weapons resulting in the u.s. beefing up their interests, there are currently 30's, and now there are plans to 44 -- there are currently 30, and now there are plans to go to 44. korean threat is seen as serious, but not at the capability to provoke that response, so there is this fear of containment, and with that, there is the concern that north korea is causing problems that directly put the united states and china on a collision course. i think those groups in china have to see the importance of co

this is the challenge that is facing the north koreans. we largely believe that if they have developed a nuclear weapon up to this point, it's probably a crude one like this and it will weigh a lot. this is the big challenge, because the musudan missile, that we're talking about on the east coast there, only has a payload of about 2.5 tons. it simply cannot carry one of these nuclear weapons. the challenge then becomes somehow making it smaller. so let's talk a little bit about the nature, the architecture of nuclear weapons and how they would do that. the core of a nuclear bomb, like the one we talked about in world war ii, is not very big. about the size of a shot putt, maybe 10, 15 pounds of plutonium. but to make it blow up, you have to compress it suddenly and powerfully. that's what starts a reaction. you do that by surrounding it with high explosives which are inside a container. we're not giving away any secrets, because it's on the internet of the when you make something this big, this is where the weight comes, not from the nucle

they're being urged by the north koreans to take shelter or to evacuate to avoid what the north koreans call all out merciless war. japan has boosted its defenses, deploying patriot air defense missile batteries in and around tokyo. and the top u.s. military commander in the pacific says north korea's actions pose a clear and direct threat to america's national security. he adds that if it comes to a fight, the united states is, quote, ready. we'll have a situation room special report on the north korean crisis right at the top of the hour, coming up 6:00 p.m. eastern only here on cnn. >>> there is breaking news coming in from cuba right now. authorities say they will in fact return to the united states a fugitive american couple and their two young sons who have been holed up aboard a sail boat at a cuban marina. the pair allegedly snatched the boys last week from a grandmother's home in florida. the grandmother had custody of the two children. cnn was the first to spot the fugitives in havana at a marina in the capital and is joining us to tell us the very latest. tell us what's going

the show of might is meant to deter north korean. today the north says it has given final approval to launch a merciless strikes on the u.s. , possibly with nuclear weapons. >> they have nuclear capacity. ratcheted up bellicose dangerous rhetoric and some of the actions they have taken over the last few weeks, it presents a real and clear danger. crisis, the 29- year-old who dictator, kim jong un. hiss determined to ensure regime's survival. we were given are rare glimpse inside north korea a year ago. the country struggles to feed its people. now and has defied sanctions. it released a carefully staged photo. the map shows a plan for missile rockets even though the cannot reach out far. imagining what the attack would do. all of this is his way of warning americans not to attempt regime change. many feel they have heard it before. after 20 years of nuclear threats, mostnd now ignore it. >> things like this have happened quite often. people do not care. we have become numb to the attention. nobody is preparing for war. we just think,

military assets due to the latest north korean threat? >> we are keenly aware of the recent provocations by north korea. and we have forces postured in the region to respond to potential threats from north korea. and that's what we do on a regular basis. we're also acutely aware of the recent provocations, and we will take appropriate measures -- and not all of which i will describe from this podium -- to ensure that we have the assets in place to defend south korea, our own forces in the region, and our allies. >> you will take? so you haven't surged any assets to this point? >> we have a range of assets that have been deployed and that could be deployed to ensure that we have adequate resources in the region to provide for defense of south korea and our own personnel and interests. that's what we do on a regular basis. we respond to different circumstances, different threats, not just in the asia- pacific, but elsewhere in the world. and that's what we do as a united states military. we ensure that we have the diversity of assets availa

assad to help us with the north koreans? >> i want to bring this up, because all of us remember how the u.s. indeed -- i think the whole world miscalculated saddam hussein in 1990, on the eve of his invasion of kuwait when he moved 100,000 u.s. -- or iraqi troops from the iranian border to the kuwaiti border, and all the top u.s. officials were telling me, i assume they were telling you, he's bluffing, he's not going to go in and invade a fellow arab country, maybe he wants the kuwaitis to raise the price of oil a little bit. he would never do that. maybe a little border skirmish. it's really a bluff. and it wasn't a bluff, and he went in and went like a knife through butter into kuwait. i think of that now when i see people saying kim jong-un is bluffing. >> he may have called everybody's bluff, but the united states assembled, with a coalition, 500,000 troops. >> over six months. >> yes. and did the job of getting rid of him. they would thought appease what happened. and he went back. the real bluff was saddam hussein thin

the north koreans are crazy . they're not going to deliberately start a war but they are they try to stay just below that level of provocation will they react the way we want them to react i just don't know we don't know what's inside the minds of north koreans it's the most closed country in the world but when we brandish arms and do that we are taking a risk that they will misunderstand that and respond in the wrong way and then use raises high concerns in the u.k. as well later this hour reporting the country's intention to seek a more sophisticated nuclear deterrent in the face of what it calls the evolving atomic threat. that's still to come the first crowds of angry palestinian protesters have clashed with israeli defense force soldiers in the west bank city of hebron off to a funeral of an ex palestinian security officer who died one in israeli custody the showdowns which followed his death have already resulted in two teenagers being killed by the israeli forces and he has been covering the scuffles and it

he's expected to call on the chinese leaders to press the north koreans to stop their hostile behavior. kerry will stop in japan to brief government officials before returning to washington. >>> a pentagon spy group has determined that the stakes may be rising on the korean peninsula. members of the defense intelligence agency concluded that north korea likely has the ability to launch nuclear armed missiles. a republican representative from colorado revealed the finding during a hearing in congress. >> dia assesses with moderate confidence the north currently has nuclear weapons capable of delivery by ballistic missiles, however, the reliability will be low. >> intelligence analysts say a missile test may be imminent. but spokespersons for the defense department said it would be inaccurate to suggest that the north koreans have fully developed their nuclear capabilities. the director of national intelligence downplayed the tensions. james clapper spoke before the intelligence committee of the house of representatives. he urged chinese leaders to use their influence with their allies i

we've not seen many north korean troop movements. there is a belief there could be a missile test in the next few days. but, you know, we've seen missile tests before. i think there are two big questions right now surrounding this entire, bizarre couple of weeks. the first is, is kim jong un, the young leader of north korea, playing by the same play book that his father and grandfather played by? and there's reason to think maybe he isn't. the second question is, does he now have the capability to take the nuclear weapons that have been tested three times, shrink them down and fit them atop a missile? the defense intelligence agency we learned through a somewhat remarkable and bizarre disclosure yesterday believes that he does have that capability. others in the intelligence community believe he may not yet, but that he's getting there. and then that question is how does that drive policy? >> rose: how does it drive policy? >> well, if you believe that kim jong un is playing by a different play book, that he is not simply looking to

some people want to see this as north korean reaction to u.s. military exercises, but we've been doing those for 50 or 60 years. there's nothing new there. there's nothing new in the u.n. security council sanctions resolution. this is the sixth time we've done that. or in the political change in south korean policy there. really the only explanation i can come up with is there's some domestic, internal issues in north korea that are causing them to need a greater external threat for their own domestic instability, or in an effort to address their own domestic instability. so this really appears to be driven by domestic political determinations in pyongyang, and as a result, it's a little bit frightening. we had to put this in a broader context. you know, for 60 years we have been successful at deterring the north koreans. and in some ways that's the most important form of communication that we can have. and thus far despite this over-the-top rhetoric they remain deterred in terms of actions. and we have to believe that that military security det

the north koreans were very upset at the chinese for doing that. the chinese have since then backed off. they came out saying we're very concerned about the military exercises between the u.s. and the south. the point is, china is a key player. they have leverage over north korea. they provide food, energy resources, funds, investment, and they can do a lot more than they're doing. why they're not doing it, i think there are two reasons. one is they don't want an implosion there that would send thousands of north korean refugees into china. and then secondly, the strategic competition with the united states. why should they help us. they may want a little bit of a state of tension on the peninsula. >> right. general clark is certainly nodding there. you have 30,000 american troops up there. >> we're playing chinese checkers here. you know the game where you have a lot of marbles, it's not chess. you don't take the knight and jump to another square. you sort of move the marbles. the chinese long-term vision is that they're the dominant power in asia

north koreans make money there. the government makes money there. his son now willing to toss it into the trash, trying to make a point. so this really tells us kim jong-un is willing to go further than his father and in that, anderson, he's more unpredictable and more dangerous. >> the south korean government, they seem to think the next 24 hours are going to be crucial, correct? >> reporter: absolutely. the south korean government basically telling the international community to set your clocks, because in 24 hours, they believe it is the greatest possibility that north korea is going to launch some sort of missile from that coast. now, the assumption is that it is going to be a test, but the united states military in this region not taking any chances. we went to the u.s. osan air base and we saw patriot missile batteries pointed to the sky, to the north, and that's just in case something comes towards a u.s. military installation, u.s. bases have been threatened by north korea. >> appreciate the live report from seoul. thanks. >>> it's impossibl

korean leadership will give a clear incentive to the north korean leadership to pursue dialogue and refrain from further provocative actions. >> he also said nato will stand by its allies. >> if a nato ally is attacked, it will probably be raised for consultation among nato ally the. nato allies will discuss the situation and make decisions based on the specific circumstances. >> north korea has been threatening to attack targets in the u.s. and allied countries. >>> america's second largest tv provider has launched a counter bid for sprint nextel. dish network is challenging japan's bank. they have offered over $25 billion in cash and stocks for sprint. that's 13% more than soft bank's proposal. they offered to buy 70% of sprint shares last october for $20 billion. dish's challenge could trigger a bidding war. board members will study the offer carefully. soft bank officials say they are monitoring the competitors move to understand the motive before taking any action. they believe sprint executives agreed to the offer because they they not only did they accept the price but welcom